Shadows of the Past
by Miss Starfire
Summary: Set after IM3. MAJOR SPOILERS! Read story and summary at your own risk. What if the final events of IM3 were different? What if he was the one who killed the man the shadows of his past created?
1. Prologue

**Summary:** Set after IM3. MAJOR SPOILERS! Read story and summary at your own risk. What if the final events of IM3 were different? What if he was the one who killed the man the shadows of his past created?

Oh, yeah, I don't own Iron Man or any of Marvel's awesome characters.

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**SHADOWS OF THE PAST**

**Prologue  
**

"Are you sure these people can be trusted?" Recently promoted General Rhodes asked his companion for the tenth time since his arrival to the Yucatan Mexican Peninsula, still unable to believe the miraculous story he had been told. The short man walking next to him nodded again, as he had done so every other time this question had been asked. The man did not blame the General for his incredulity, as it had been difficult for the locals to believe the tale themselves.

The summer was in full bloom and no amount of cover had diminished the effects of the intense heat. Even in his civilian attire, he could not help to sigh loudly every other moment, feeling as if the high temperature around him was evaporating the oxygen within his lungs. He knew he could have sent someone else to perform this deed, but given the circumstances, he could only think of one other person –other than himself, _deserving_ of accomplishing this task. That person, however, had become a shadow of his former self, secluding in the depths of a cabin in the middle of the Rockies, hardly ever leaving the comfort of his new home.

"How much farther?" Rhodey asked his guide, feeling sick to his stomach after having to trek his way here wearing a flimsy pair of sandals that were completely inadequate for the terrain. He could only hope that his efforts had not been in vain.

"Not much longer, Señor Rhodes," the man answered with a thick accent. "In fact, we're here," the main said as he pointed to a humble-looking shack at the end of the dirt road. Rhodey wiped the sweat off his brow, taking advantage of the quick shade the movement provided as it shielded his eyes from the scorching sun.

The guide stopped in front of the entrance of the small hut but not before asking Rhodey to remain behind him and not speak. Even if he wanted to, the General's knowledge of the Spanish language was not going to be sufficient for what needed to be asked and told. Rhodey waited patiently as the man and a woman who had come out of the hut spoke in hushed voices, randomly pointing at Rhodey and then back inside the hut. Children gazed at the General, clearly not used to having visitors or having never been taught the impoliteness of staring.

"¿Por qué he de dejarlo entrar? ¿Qué tal si la quiere lastimar? ¡La pobre muchacha casi se muere!"

Rhodey was not happy with the way the woman had spoken the unknown words. She was obviously reluctant to let him inside her home, even if not dressed in his full military garments. He had hoped his tourist-looking clothes would ease the blow on the residents, but so far the only one that trusted the General was the guide that had been contacted by the American Embassy to aid Rhodey in finding his way to the depths of the desolated town.

"María, ¡No seas terca! El Señor viene desde muy lejos a verla. ¡Los gringos no visitan estas tierras nada más porque sí!"

The woman huffed as she stared at Rhodey with piercing eyes. After shaking her head vehemently, she finally nodded at the guide, stepping aside to allow both men to walk inside the home. Rhodey followed the guide and tried not to stare at the conditions of the shack. The floors were made out of dried up palm leaves, and the most basic services were clearly absent. The musty smell that hit his nostrils almost made him gag, but he kept his composure despite the deplorable conditions of the place.

As they neared the end of the hut, the General noticed the right corner of the location was covered by a white fabric that hung from the ceiling all the way to the floor. He could not really call it a curtain or a blanket, as it had no holes atop for curtain rods to be held, and had too many holes in other places to be called a blanket. The woman gave Rhodey one last glance before she took down the fabric from the ceiling to reveal the reason Rhodey had traveled so far.

"Oh, my…goodness…" was all the General could say as his eyes scanned the body in front of him. He took his right hand to cover his mouth, suddenly the surroundings becoming more comforting than the current scene. He looked up only for a second to stare at the woman and then at his guide.

"How long has…I can't believe…is she _alive_?"

"Yes, sir, she is. She washed ashore months ago," the guide began after exchanging information with the woman Rhodey would now deem as her caretaker. "The fishermen that found her thought she was dead because she was all bloated and scarred. They brought her here to bury her, but when Maria was prepping her, she realized she still had a pulse. Maria's older daughter had just passed away a few days before, so she took her in as if to fill in the void her daughter had left. As you can see, they don't have much, but they've been able to keep her alive this long."

"Why didn't they call the authorities as soon as they found her?"

The man shrugged. "This is a small town, Señor. They take care of their own. They would have never called the Embassy if her face hadn't recently cleaned up enough to recognize her. And, when the state of her pressing condition became evident, they knew they had to call someone to come and take her to a better place."

Rhodes nodded, fully understanding why they had not been called before. In such a close-knit community with hardly any contact with modern society, news tended to come in at a much slower rate than the rest of the world.

"I'm going to have to get her to a hospital and then back to the States. I hope you understand."

"I do, Señor, but you're gonna have to convince Maria to let her go. She's grown fond of the girl."

Rhodey nodded in understanding, already seeing the distress his presence was causing the old woman in front of him. He walked closer to the body lying on the floor, kneeling down to its side. Her already pale complexion seemed even paler than usual, but her red tresses were brighter than he had ever seen. He figured the exposure to the bright sun had something to do with it.

He leaned down closer to her, hesitating to touch her as he feared he would scare off the last vestiges of life from her. He swallowed hard as his hand found her forehead, removing the once short bangs that had now grown long enough to cover her face.

"Hang in there, Pepper. We'll get you back home."

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**A/N:** I just watched IM3 last night and I can't deny I'm pumped! Don't quite know where I'm heading with this story, or how long it will, or how soon I can update, but I had to get it out. BTW, I hope I didn't insult anyone with my portrayal of the small town of Mexico. I was born and raised in Mexico, so I know how some of the least fortunate places look like. And, also, YES, some Mexicans do speak English that well ;)


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: **WOW! Awesome response! Thank you for encouraging me to continue! I'm new to the Iron Man universe, so you may not see a lot of continuity between this story and the comics. I hope this doesn't deter you from continuing to read this story. Not sure if I should upgrade the rating to M as I tend to make my characters swear, so I apologize in advance. What do you think?

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**Chapter 1**

The loud banging on the door did not deter Tony Stark from continuing his sleep, but merely encouraged him to reaching out to his nightstand to find a pair of earplugs. He slowly placed the handy contraptions in his ears without even bothering to open his eyes and smiling to himself at his small victory. The banging was significantly diminished but did not stop. Whoever or whatever was standing at his doorstep was clearly unaware that Tony Stark could sleep through anything when he willed himself to.

_No more sleepless nights for me._

After a few more minutes of incessant knocking, the unwanted visitor seemingly gave up in his effort to get anyone to come to the door. In the short minutes of the following silence engulfed him, Tony took a deep breath before allowing his body to come to full relaxation once more to continue his afternoon nap. Once he thought he could continue with his routine, a louder and closer noise made him growl.

"Jarvis, shut up!"

His protest was followed by even louder howling and barking, and then by scrapping of the front door. Tony grabbed the closest pillow and covered his head with it, hoping for just a quick second that he could make himself suffocate with it if just for the sake of being able to rest.

"Son of a bitch," the engineer mumbled, forcing himself to get up from the comfort of his bed to quiet down his companion. As soon as Jarvis saw Tony approaching him, his barking stopped but the sound of his tail hitting the walls took its place.

"What are you barking at, now, eh, Jarvis? Bear? Squirrel? Your fucking shadow? What now?"

A loud howl was his dog's only response, inciting Tony to curse his luck at getting a guard dog for a pet.

"Stupid German Shepherd and their…"

His train of thought was interrupted when he reached his window, fluttering the curtain long enough to see the blurry image of a man walking around the perimeter of his home, obviously trying to see inside or find a way in. It took only one look from Tony's eyes for Jarvis to finally settle down, waiting for his master to give an order to do otherwise.

Stark walked toward the back of the small living room, making the least amount of noise possible. He crouched down to the floor and pulled one of the loosened wooden boards to reveal his stash of guns. He grabbed the closest one, and after checking it still had ammo inside, he returned to the front of the home to look outside for the whereabouts of the man.

When his search proved unsuccessful, he moved to the next window and then the next until he was able to see the man's hat as he crouched behind the home's back door, trying to pry its lock. Tony pressed his back against the wall next to the back door and held his breath as the attempts from the intruder became fruitful. The doorknob slowly churned as Tony grabbed onto the gun with more force than needed. As soon as the door began opening, he counted down three seconds for the intruder to walk in before jumping him and pointing the gun at him.

"What the hell, Tony? Put that gun down!" The intruder said with his hands in the air.

It took the former CEO of Stark Industries a moment to regain his composure, but once he did, he sneered and put his gun down. "It's just you. What are you now? A spy? Why the hell are you breaking into my house, sour patch?"

Rhodey rolled his eyes at the man; it had been nearly a year since he disappeared from Malibu without so much as a word of goodbye and he still had the nerve to call him names.

"I take it you don't get many visitors if you greet them all like this."

Tony closed the door before leaving the gun on the kitchen table. "I don't need visitors. Actually, how did you find me? I thought I'd cover my tracks."

It was now Rhodey's turn to scoff, knowing he should have known better than to think he could just drop off the radar after how involved with the media, military and S.H.I.E.L.D. he had once been. "Do I really need to answer that, Tony?"

Tony shook his head, walking to the sink and filling up a glass with water. "Anything I can get for you? Water? Beer? An ass kicking back home?"

"For God's sake! Will you quit it? I get it that you don't want me here…"

"It's not just you I don't want here. I don't want _anyone_ here," Tony interrupted him to correct him.

"Whatever! Point is that I AM here, so deal with it."

Tony turned around and took a sip of his water. He then blinked at the General a few times before he diverted his attention to Jarvis, pointing toward Rhodey with his head as he spoke.

"Jarvis, sic'em!"

Jarvis immediately responded to his master's command by snarling at Rhodey as he slowly approached his new target. Rhodey did not dare to move as to not look even more threatening to the animal.

"Tony, the fuck? I ain't come here to take you back if that's what you think! Tell your dog to stop looking at me as if I'm food."

Tony's demeanor did not change, nor did he order Jarvis to stop his prowling. He watched in amusement as Rhodey swallowed hard at the challenge, but did not make any effort to stand down.

"I don't wanna have to shoot your dog, man. Make him stop!"

After finishing his glass of water and feeling he had made his point, Tony commanded Jarvis to stand down. The dog, once again, immediately followed the orders, reverting his threatening demeanor to one of a playful pup.

"What do you want?" Tony inquired.

"Can I sit down, at least?"

"Sure, why not. Why don't you sit down before you leave?"

Knowing this was as good as he was going to get so far, Rhodey nodded and sat at the dinette table. Tony mimicked his move, sitting across from the military man.

"It's a nice place you have here," James said, trying to engage in some small talk before he dropped a bomb on his friend. He realized his attempt was futile when he saw Tony's expression of impatience all over his face. Rhodey shrugged, finally giving up on trying cushioning the blow.

"Look, man. I'm just gonna say it and if you want to talk about it, we'll talk. OK?"

Tony crossed his arms in front of his chest, tapping the fingers of his right hand on his left arm to emphasize he had better things to do than to sit here with Rhodey during his nap time. Rhodey rubbed his face with his hands, readying himself for what he knew was to come. He stared straight at Tony's eyes, not once losing contact as he spoke.

"We found her, Tony."

The look of walls crumbling within the inventor was not lost to Rhodey, but the full effect was quickly removed from Tony's face. The brief moment of hesitation and pain disappeared as quickly as it had appeared; leaving behind an even greater scowl on Tony's features.

"I don't appreciate jokes about her, James."

Rhodey took in a deep breath, unsure of how to continue the conversation. The simple mention of Pepper had been enough for Tony to shift from his irritable self, to his defensive self. The fact that he had just addressed him by his first name was enough to force Rhodey to think his next words carefully.

"I thought it was a sick joke, too. I was ready to make the would-be pranksters suffer for it, but..."

Tony swallowed the lump in his throat. He was not sure why he had thought Rhodey would ever joke about such a soft spot for him, but he was not willing to relive the pain of losing her all over again. However, the natural need to acquire knowledge was nagging him, pushing him to ask for more information.

"Did-did you find her?"

"Yes."

Tony nodded, licking his lips which had suddenly become dry. He uncrossed his arms, staring at an invisible spot to his right as he tried to hold his emotions at bay. They remained silent for a long time, allowing Tony to process the information, and allowing Rhodes to stare at his friend. The condition in which Tony Stark was in had been expected. He no longer wore his signature goatee but had replaced it with a full-grown beard. His once sparkling eyes were now dim, and his hair had grown as long as he had once had it when he attended college.

As James waited for any type of response from the former superhero, his eyes darted around him to take in the home. The small cabin was nothing compared to the luxurious mansion Tony had once lived in, but it seemed to provide all the bare necessities of a lonely man. There was a dining room, a living room, a kitchen, a fireplace, and what he assumed was a bedroom on the other end of the hall. There were no signs, however, of any tools, robots, pictures, or any other items that Tony had held dear for so long.

"Where?" Tony finally asked.

"Mexico."

Tony could not hold back the loud, breaking sigh that escaped his lips. He felt his eyes warming up with tears at the memories the current conversation was bringing back to him. He saw her glistening, pleading eyes staring back at him, afraid of her incoming fate. He still remembered every bit of her as she outstretched her arm toward him, but not daring to let go of the sliding crane to near him. He always wondered if she had been able to see the pain in his eyes, the desperation within him to save her. He also wondered if she had forgiven him for not catching her as he had promised her he would. He wanted to think that her soul was resting in peace knowing he had made it out alive even if she had not.

Even though the battle had been won against Aldrich, the price paid had been too great for him to bear. His home had been destroyed along with their possessions, including anything that could have held her scent or the faint hint of her presence. He had been left with nothing more other than clouded memories of their time together, and the burden of failing her when she needed him the most. Hell, he had not even had a body to which to offer a proper burial!

The rig and its accompanied ship had exploded at the end of his battle along with his suits, and even though it had sunk and then brought back up to be scrapped, her body had never been recovered. The forensic analysts had speculated that the fire had been so intense that her body had been burned to nothing but ashes lost in the sea.

"Does her family know?" he asked, not sure what to expect or hope for. Her family had been less than pleased when they found out he had not saved her when he had the chance, but he certainly could not blame them for hating him. He knew he should have never given his home address to the psychopath. He should have learned from his _I Am Iron Man_ speech and kept his mouth shut. They should have left the house when she told him to. He should have…

"They don't, yet. We thought you should know first, since you're still listed as her next of kin."

Tony's eyes stared into nothingness, blinking only by inertia. Yes, he was listed as her next of kin, and he was also listed as her proxy for medical purposes. However, seeing as he had been unable to keep her alive and well, he did not feel he could bear the responsibility of deciding how, where and when to put her body into the ground.

"Uhm…very well. Why don't you, uh…call them?" He began as he stood up, suddenly feeling restless. "Let them figure it out. I think I've done enough for their daughter, right?" he said, choking back the tears that came to him at knowing he would not be there to set her body to rest. He could probably visit her grave later, but he would not be there to throw the first fist full of dirt over her coffin.

"Tell them it's on me; all expenses. Even if they don't agree to it…the option is there," he said, sniffling and momentarily placing his hands inside his jean pockets. He walked toward the front door and opened it, standing next to it and staring at Rhodey to silently tell him he had to go.

Rhodey looked away from him and stared at the back door, not being able to relay the second part of his news while looking him in the eye.

"I really think you should come with me before we tell her family. The doctors need your signature for some paperwork."

Tony shook his head. "I'll have my lawyers revoke the executor order; leave her family to make the decisions I'm sure they want to make."

"Tony…"

"NO!" he yelled. He rested his left forearm on the frame of the still opened front door and placed his forehead on it. He then lifted his fist to his side and pounded the wall with it. "I can't do this, Rhodes. Not again. It's been a year, dammit! I've moved on!"

Rhodey scoffed, getting up from his seat and walking toward the front door, slamming it shut and almost pinching Tony's elbow with it. "Bullshit, Tony! If you'd really moved on, you wouldn't be hiding up here. You'd be back at your company, falling asleep during meetings, and tinkering in your lab!"

Tinkering. He hated that word. It had been the word Pepper had used when she had been scared shitless by the Mark XLII attacking her in their bed. He had stopped _tinkering_ after he gave up his life as the prodigious son of Stark Industries. The closest he had gotten to tinkering was building his own furniture out here in the woods.

"Is that all you wanted to say? Thanks for stopping by."

"I'm not done."

"Oh?" Tony asked, lifting his head from the wall and staring angrily at Rhodey. The small feeling of having some companionship from his long forgotten friend had been refreshing for a second until Pepper's name had been dropped. He wanted nothing more than to kick him out of his house and forget he had ever shown his face. "You're not done fucking with me? What else do you have to say?"

"I think you better sit…"

"WHAT ELSE DO YOU HAVE TO SAY?!"

"FINE!" Rhodey yelled back, tired of trying to make this as easy as possible for his friend. He knew very well that if the news had been shocking to him, they would be even more appalling to Tony. "Fine! If that's how you wanted it to be, then so be it!"

The General took a deep breath before walking to the couch, plopping down his body as if it weighed a ton. He rested his elbows on his knees and his weight on his elbows as he stared at Tony's back. He waited for a moment hoping that Tony would join him at the couch, but when he remained standing still, he decided it was time to tell him the true reason why he had hiked all the way to his new home.

"She…she's alive, Tony."

The silence that followed Rhodey's confession was thick and heavy. James did not need to stare at Tony to know what his face looked like. What he did not know –or expected, was for Tony to walk out the door and run into the woods as the sun was beginning to set. By the time Rhodey realized what he had caused, Tony was already gone and nowhere to be found.

Rhodey cursed out loud, heading back into the cabin and making himself as comfortable as possible as he waited for his friend to cool down and return home.

* * *

When Rhodey opened his eyes to the morning sun, he realized he had fallen asleep on the couch. He stared at the floor to see Jarvis' inquisitive face, tilting from side to side as he eyed the visitor. Stretching his arms as far he could, he noticed the front door was still opened. He sighed as he stood up and walked up to the door to close it shut.

"Better leave that open. We're heading out in fifteen."

James' head snapped to his left to stare at Tony Stark with shaving cream on his face and a razor in his hand. He did not look as distraught as he had been last night, but Rhodey knew his calmness was even worse than his angry state. "When did you come back?"

"Just now. Where's your ride?"

The General walked behind his friend as he headed to the sink. He watched as Tony shaved his beard to look as its usual self. He figured he wanted to look the part in case he needed to use his influence to help Pepper.

"It's down the hill, about a 20-minute walk from here."

"OK. Mind feeding Jarvis? I forgot to give him dinner last night."

The canine perked up at hearing its name, making Rhodey realize that its early stare had been a sign of pleading help. Without another word, James walked to the kitchen and opened all the cabinets and doors until he found the bag of dog food. He lifted the small bag and poured a considerable amount into Jarvis' bowl, to which the dog immediately jumped. Returning the bag to its place, Rhodey walked around the dog and headed back to the bathroom to meet up with Tony.

"So?"

"So, what?" Tony asked as he shrugged and began to trim the second half of his face.

"What changed your mind?"

Tony ran the razor under the stream of hot water as he spoke again. "Honestly, I don't believe she's alive. Not even my fucking suits could have survived that heat."

"So, why go then?"

"Because, if this is a false alarm, I rather deal with it myself than give her family another reason to hate my guts."

"It's not a false alarm, Tony. I went to get her. I arranged her transfer to New York Presbyterian. I haven't been able to do DNA analysis because we need your signature for that, but I know it's her."

"I'll be the judge of that, Rhodey. And, when it turns out to be some other girl you dragged my ass back to civilization for, I'll kick your ass."

Rhodey exhaled, holding his hands up besides his head as a sign of defeat, not truly wanting to get into an argument about it. He still had not told Tony the entire story, but he figured it would be safer to just tell him while at a hospital in case he went into cardiac arrest by the news.

"Whatever you say, Tony. Just help me help her. You can walk away after it if you want."

"I plan to."

Without anything more to say, Rhodey returned to the couch and waited for Tony to finish his sprucing up. As he had promised, at the count of the fifteenth minute, the two friends had begun their trek down the hill to Rhodey's car.

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I usually write very, very, VERY long chapters, but I will aim to keep them short for this story so that I can update more often. Thanks for reading ^_^


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Thanks to his long absence, the media had been unaware of his sudden return to the world of the living. It had been easy enough for him to contact Happy, and after a quick banter and exchange of insults, his former bodyguard had been more than willing to help him arrive incognito to New York. By the time Tony and Rhodey had arrived at the medical facility, a team of doctors awaited him at the entrance of the ICU with expectant looks on their faces.

Tony had not even glanced at the documents as he signed them, allowing the doctors to do their job of running a dental and blood test on the patient to determine her identity. The sooner the tests proved him to be in the right, the sooner he could crawl back to his cabin in Colorado. He had wanted to leave as soon as he had signed the medical forms, but Rhodey had convinced him to stay a little while longer while the results came back in case he was needed for something else.

So, after four hours of waiting, Rhodey was finding himself out of excuses to keep the impatient man in his seat. He had tried to continue his story of how he had found Pepper, but Tony had shushed him every time he had tried to do so. Rhodey was no fool, however. He knew this was Tony's way of dealing with pain. He knew how broken he had been when Pepper had died, and he had nearly drank himself to death after the fact. He also knew Tony was trying his best not to lift his spirits and hope by considering for a moment that the woman resting in the room in front of them was his long-lost girlfriend.

Tony took out his cell phone –which he had not used in months, fiddling with it as he found the number of his attorney. He stared at the number for a few seconds with the intention of dialing, but unable to press the SEND button. He felt he had done his good deed of the year, and he wanted to leave. He had not even walked inside the room to see the girl, unable to cope with the deception of seeing some other woman's face. He knew he was supposed to be in pain, clinging onto the possibility that Pepper was indeed alive and breathing mere feet from him, but the fear of disappointment was greater than his hope.

He took his eyes away from his cell phone, to stare at the door in front of him; the door leading to the patient's room. The blinds were closed, so he was unable to casually peek inside, even if he wanted to. The name tag on the door read Pepper's legal name; a fact he had actively tried to ignore since he had walked in. He returned his gaze to this phone, this time catching Rhodey's attention with his fidgeting actions. Tony lowered his thumb to the green button once more, but once more was unable to press it. James knew that one phone call to his ever-awaiting attorneys would release him from the responsibility of caring for the girl behind the door, but he also knew the curiosity was killing him inside.

Seeing the hesitancy on his face, Rhodey took this opportunity to knock some sense into his thick head. He snatched the phone away from Tony, prompting the latter to glare at the General. "Rhodey, we're not doing this! Give me back my phone!"

"No!"

"What do you mean: 'no?' Give me my phone!"

"I meant NO! Man up, Stark. Aren't you even gonna go see her? I'm telling you, it's her! The tests are just a formality."

"Will you stop that, already?" Tony asked, turning his head away from Rhodey. "Pepper is dead. I saw her die. She…I…What's taking these doctors so long, anyway?"

As if on cue, a couple of the doctors finally appeared in the hall. Rhodey stood up immediately, unable to sit still for the confirmation he had been waiting for, for months. He fiddled with his hands, not sure if crossing them in front of his chest, or putting them inside of his pockets, or just letting his arms hang to his sides was appropriate for this type of discussion. Tony did not even bother to stand up; staring down at his feet as they tapped the floor was all he could muster to do at the moment.

"Mr. Stark, we would like your approval to begin an intense regimen of antibiotics, along with other procedures to expedite her recovery. We have been able to keep her alive and provide her life-saving attention, but without your approval, we cannot continue a full assault on the injuries Ms. Potts has sustained."

"So," Rhodey began when he did not see Tony making an effort to speak. "Did the blood test confirm it's really Pepper in there?"

"Oh, haven't you been told?" The second doctor asked. "We've known for at least a couple of hours that the patient in there is in fact Ms. Virginia Potts. I thought the nurse had already come by to confirm it with you. Her dental and blood records are an exact match. Well, anyone could have made that call by just looking at her face and her red hair, right?" the second doctor added with a light chuckle.

The two doctors and James stared down at the static form of Tony Stark. If it was not for the rising of his back, they would have sworn he was not breathing. One of the doctors cleared his throat to catch his attention, but his effort went unnoticed by the shocked man.

"Mr. Stark? Mr. Stark did you hear me?"

The two doctors looked up to stare at Rhodey, asking him with their eyes what they were supposed to do. James shrugged at them, wondering why a pair of doctors was asking a common man such as him what to do in the case of a shocked patient. Regardless of their lack of action, Rhodey looked down at Tony again, tapping his shoulder with his fingers.

"Yo, Tony! Snap out of it! Pepper's alive."

Silence was his only response. Rhodey sighed as he crouched down to stare at his friend's face, waving his hand in front of it. "Tony! Hello! Pepper is…"

Rhodey was not able to finish his sentence, feeling the wind being knocked out of him when Tony pushed him out of the way. The pair of doctors to his right also felt the force of his move as he flew off his chair and ran to the door in front of him. His shaking hand found the doorknob in an instant, and before anyone realized what had just occurred, Tony had locked himself inside Pepper's room. He could hear the banging on the door of the doctors and Rhodey, but just as he had done 24 hours ago, he ignored it.

The room was rather small, holding only one bed and its tiny occupant in addition to the standard medical equipment that was required to have in every room. The sterile smell that suddenly hit his nostrils made him uncomfortable as he had grown accustomed to Pepper's scent permeating every place she set foot into. The banging outside the door ceased, and the silence that followed gave him the final push to walk towards her inert form.

With small steps he approached her, his eyes never leaving the sight of her face. He stopped at the edge of the bed, admiring the rise and fall of her chest and signaling to him that she was breathing on her own. His eyes darted to the heart monitor, the strong beat of it confirming that she was in fact alive. Her face, while marred by still healing scars, was just as he remembered it. Her freckles were more prominent than ever, and even though she had lost a considerable amount of weight to the point some of her bones stuck out, she had never looked so beautiful to him.

He let out a sob as his trembling hands found one of hers, grateful that the IV line was on her other hand. He forced himself to remain as steady as possible as he held on to her soft skin, allowing more sobs to come out. His legs slowly began giving out on him with the realization that he was staring down at her after a year of thinking her dead, forcing him to kneel down next to her bed but without ever letting go of his grip on her. He took her hand to his face and placed it all around his face, pretending it was her own will to stroke it, and furthering proving to himself that she was not gone.

_Pepper! Oh, Pepper! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!_

He placed her hand on his lips, kissing every spot of it and wetting it with his tears, looking up only to stare at her. He leaned closer to her, resting her palm on the left side of face and touching her face with the back of his right hand. He forced his neck to stretch as far as it could go so that his lips hung next to her ear.

"Don't give up, Pep," he whispered to her in a broken voice. "I'll make it better, I promise. I won't let you down again. I won't let you fall."

Closing his eyes once more, he held onto her as he wept. Some sobs were so loud that he was certain they could be heard outside the confines of her room, but he did not care. In fact, he wanted the doctors to hear him cry. He wanted the doctors to hear the extent of his pain and devotion to this woman. He wanted them to get an idea of the lengths he was willing to go to bring her back to normal. It was best for them to be ready for him now so he did not have to fire their asses later. He had been given a second chance, and by God she was not slipping through his fingers once again.

* * *

An hour after Tony had locked himself in her room, he finally came out to see the doctors and Rhodey still hanging outside. All three of them had been sitting down as they waited for the billionaire to get a grip on himself, but the moment he opened the door, the two doctors stood up at the same time. Rhodey remained sitting but a simple look from Tony told the General he was more grateful than words could express. Tony sniffled, directing his attention to the waiting doctors.

"Where do I sign?"

The relief on their faces was evident, and they were quick to bring out the dozens of documents he had to review and approve to begin Pepper's treatment. His red and swollen eyes made it difficult to read most of the papers, but the doctors had been kind enough to tell him what each document was for. Once he finished signing them all, he looked up at the two medics who were surprised to see his calm face change to one of anger and distrust.

"I appreciate you keeping her alive so far, but that just tells me that if she dies after whatever you want to do for her, you didn't do your job. I want a guarantee that everything –EVERYTHING, you plan to do to her is backed up by research and approved by me. I want her recovery to be as smooth as possible. If _anything_ happens to her while under your care, you can kiss your licenses goodbye."

The doctors stared at one another before staring back at Tony and nodding along. They knew that all medical procedures came with a risk, and that a time-and-again proven procedure could always go wrong in unimaginable ways. Promising Tony that she would not die was futile, but his temperament and power was not unknown to them.

"We will recruit more specialists for her. You can meet them once we assemble the team."

Tony mentally snorted at the irony. _Assembled_.

With a final nod, Tony dismissed the doctors and sat next to Rhodey. The doctors, seeing they were off the hook for now wasted no time in leaving the premises in the blink of an eye. Once the two friends were left alone again, the silence between them did not last.

"I guess I should tell Happy to bring a tent for you to stay in here?" Rhodey asked, knowing that from now on there was no removing Tony from Pepper's side.

"Nah. I'll just buy the entire fucking hospital and have an apartment built right next to her room. It'll be alright."

Rhodey shook his head, knowing that Tony's tone of jest was only a distraction from his intention to set camp here for days, weeks or however long it took for Pepper to recover from her injuries. "Do you wanna hear the rest?"

Tony nodded. "How did you find her?"

"She washed ashore in the Mexican coastline of Yucatan. She landed near a very small town, so they didn't know what to do with her. They thought she was a goner but when they realized she was alive they took her in."

"I want to know where. I want to go there and thank them in person. Without them, Pepper…"

"I'll send you names. She wasn't there for too long. The tour guide that took me to find her said they found her about three weeks after the explosion. They didn't know about it then, but I figured it out by the dates they gave me."

Tony shook his head. "How did she manage to get all the way over there? I don't understand."

"Well, that's something we will have to ask her when she wakes up, eh?"

"Yeah," Tony responded in a tired manner, the adrenaline of feeling her alive under his touch finally dissipating. "How long was she with them?"

"About six months."

"S-six? SIX months?"

Rhodey flinched at his mistake. He knew immediately that Tony was going to put two and two together in a flash. He mentally cursed at himself for erring but realized it was useless to try and cover it up. "Yes, six months ago was when I found her. It took me a month to arrange for her extradition back here. She spent a month in containment at a military base, and once they cleared her from major diseases, I had her transferred over here and she has been here since."

"So, she's been here for almost six months and you just NOW tell me about it?"

"Tony, we needed to stabilize her first. I didn't want to bother you if she was, well…you know."

"So, if she had died, you would have never told me about it?!" Tony asked, raising his voice as his fist shook in anger. "What the hell, Rhodey? You could've told me about her the moment you found her! You could've saved me six months of…of…DAMMIT, RHODEY!" he said, unable to finish his sentence.

"Look, man. I'm sorry, OK? Yes, I should've told you, but I wanted to first make sure it was really her. I mean, just look at how you reacted when I finally told you. You didn't even want to come and check it out for yourself! How would you have reacted if I had told you six months ago?"

"I…" he began before taking a deep breath. "It doesn't matter. You should've told me."

"Alright, Tony. Next time Pepper is found in the middle of the Mexican Riviera, I'll make sure to give you a call."

"There won't be a next time, Rhodey," Tony said solemnly. "This is not happening to her again."

Rhodey stared at him but did not respond, knowing exactly what Tony was referring to. The guilt on his face was so apparent it could have been used to create a mask. The cries that he had heard coming from her room had not been pleasant sounding, and he had almost lost it for his friend. He had mourned Pepper, and so had Happy and many other people that had cared for her. Neither of them, however, had bawled with such emotion as Tony had just minutes ago.

Now that he thought about it further, he was surprised to see that neither of them had brought up the obvious question of how she had survived the fall, the fire, the explosion and the trek through the Gulf, but he figured that they both knew that their speculations would be a waste of time as long as Pepper was not conscious enough to confirm or deny their possible claims.

"Are you calling her parents now?" Rhodey asked as he handed Tony back his cell phone. Tony grabbed the device, staring at it as if were filled with poison. He knew that calling her family was going to open another can of worms he was not sure he was ready to face. The sudden call from the man who caused her demise to tell them their daughter was alive would surely increase their anger towards him. Their new anger would then tenfold when they found out his executor of the estate overrode their family right to decide her medical procedures.

"Maybe you should call them. You're the one who knew she was alive for the past six months. I just found out," Tony suggested in an attempt to pass on the responsibility to the General beside him.

"Oh, hell no! I can justify my reasons for not telling them, but you can't. You're the boyfriend, you should call them!"

"That'd be nice and all, except that to them I'm not 'the boyfriend'" he said while emphasizing his former title with air quotes. "I'm just the man that didn't have balls to stand up for their daughter."

Rhodey was taken aback, scratching the top of his head as he stared at Tony for a hint of a joke. "Is that what they told you? Really?"

"That…and where I could put my money after I offered to pay for the funeral."

"Damn! I mean, yeah, Pepper's…dea-_passing_," he corrected himself immediately "Was definitely tragic, but I doubt they could've done better than you in your place."

Tony snorted, remembering having used that argument himself. "But, Rhodey, we would never place her in that situation in the first place, so it doesn't matter whether you did better than us!" Tony said, mimicking Pepper's mother the best he could. He had nothing against Pepper's family, and he had been trying really hard to get on their good side since he and Pepper had begun dating, but he was certain that after this, there was no chance in hell to win them over, ever again.

"I see their point, but…Come on! It's not like you didn't try to save her. In that case, I should be blamed, too. I left you behind when I should've stayed and helped you."

"You had other things to take care of. And, hey, it got you promoted, didn't it?"

Rhodey shrugged, still feeling the promotion to General given to him for saving the President was too much of a thank you to him. "It don't matter to me. But, if I hadn't gotten it, I'd never found out about Pepper being alive. So, I guess it has been useful, somehow."

Their conversation died down for a while, each lost in their thoughts. Tony's mind was thinking about ways to help with Pepper's recovery, and trying to ignore thinking what would happen to their relationship once she woke up. Maybe he would be better off getting ready for her return, prepping the penthouse in New York for her arrival. He wanted to assume she would be more than willing to pick up where they had left off, regardless of her family's position on the matter, but he also had to force himself not to think that far ahead.

Rhodey's mind was not too far away from Tony's line of thought. However, Rhodey's concerns related more to the last bit of news he still had for Tony. It seemed as if no moment was going to be good enough to tell him what he needed to know to close the Finding-Pepper cycle, but he was yet to find the guts to tell him the truth. Realizing this moment was as good as any, Rhodey turned to face Tony, whose eyes were lost as he stared at the door.

"Hey, Tony. I gotta tell you something, man."

Tony's eyes did not leave the door, but a grunt coming from the former playboy told Rhodey he was somewhat listening to him.

"Well, this is kinda hard to say…not that telling you that Pepper was alive wasn't hard, but this is more…delicate."

The tone of James' voice made Tony face his friend, trying to read his thoughts and his face. His concentration, however, was interrupted by the voice of a female nurse approaching him.

"Mr. Stark! I'm sorry I'm so late! We got the results back and we confirmed our patient is Ms. Potts!"

Both Rhodey and Tony smiled at the nurse, doing everything in their power to keep from rolling their eyes at her lack of punctuality in delivering news.

"Thank you, ma'am," Tony forced himself to say. "That's wonderful news!"

"Why, you're welcome, Mr. Stark," she said, nodding to him before excusing herself and turning around. Nothing more than a step had been taken by the nurse before she spun around to face Tony once more and catching his attention.

Tony mustered another fake smile at her as she waved her hand at him. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark. I forgot to ask. The doctor wants to know if you'd like to take your baby home."

Tony's eyes widened once his brain processed the nurse's words. He blinked several times and swallowed his suddenly dried throat.

"Come again?"

"Yes, Mr. Stark. Miss Potts was with child when she was brought here, we assumed it is yours?"

Tony pulled on his collar as he opened his mouth to respond but no sound came out. His stupor was broken by the sound of sudden movement behind him, followed by the shriek of shoes hitting the waxed floor of the hall.

By the time Tony turned around, Rhodey's flailing body was seen rounding the corner, running away from the superhero as fast as his legs could take him.

* * *

By show of...reviews...who saw this coming? Like?


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Any of my stories are better read by using the half-screen option of . I write them with that intention, thus the continuously broken lines if read in wide mode **

**Thank you all so much for your feedback, alerts and favorites ^_^**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

"Here's your juice, Mr. Stark. We only had strawberry flavor left, is that OK?" The nurse asked, having returned from the children ward for the third time to gather a drink for the billionaire.

Tony nodded, taking the small box of _Juicy Juice_ from the nurse that had just delivered the news of his life. Once more, his shaking hands struggled to remove the small straw attached to the back of the container, and struggled even more to get the wrapping off it. The nurse, giving him a warm smile, grabbed the wrapped straw from Tony's fumbling hands.

"Here, let me help you."

Tony nodded again as he watched the nurse's dexterous hands take on the seemingly difficult task of unwrapping the small straw and placing it inside the container. Handing it back to Tony, he whispered a thank you to her before sipping on the juice. His blood sugar level had hit the floor when he had been asked about his baby and his intention of taking it home, and even Rhodey's sudden bolt of energy did not spook away his shock.

_Fucking Rhodey; I'm gonna kill him!_

After having three boxes of juice, Tony finally felt the tremors in his body beginning to subside. He was trying his best to calm down in order to be taken to the pediatric ward of the hospital, as this had been a condition he needed to fulfill to guarantee the visit to see his baby.

HIS baby.

HIS. BABY.

_My. Child. _

Suddenly, he needed one more juice to regain his composure.

"Oh, Mr. Stark!" the nurse said to get his attention. "You're little girl is so cute! She's gonna be a heartbreaker when she's older."

At the nurse's comment, Tony spat the contents of his mouth every which-a-way, which included the nurse's uniform and face. The nurse's smiling face turned to one of incredulity at Tony's reaction before she grabbed the closest rag to her to wipe off the liquid from her face. Tony immediately stood up, gesturing to the nurse his deepest apologies.

"It's OK, Mr. Stark. I-I'm gonna go change. I'll be right back."

"I'm sorry," he sincerely relayed to the poor woman once more as she neared the exit of the break room. He was just coming to terms with the idea of having baby, but having a girl just complicated things for him, tenfold. How was he supposed to keep the creeps, like her daddy used to be, off his little girl?

Acknowledging his apology, the nurse finally left the room, leaving the still stunned Tony to stew in his thoughts. He grabbed a tissue to clean the juice off his face before resting his head and back against the chair he was sitting on.

_A baby. Pepper and I have a baby…a girl._

Now that he was alone with his contemplations, the magnitude of his new situation finally dawned on him. Little over 36 hours ago, he had been a lonely man planning on living the rest of his life by himself and with his dog. Today, he was the father of the daughter of his once presumed dead girlfriend, who had mysteriously crashed on a coast in a different country. Just yesterday he had cared for no one but himself. Today he had a living girlfriend, a daughter, and a dog to protect.

He should have taken his nap earlier when he had the chance.

To add worry to shock, he knew he had to call Pepper's parents to tell them the news that not only were they the parents of a _living_ Pepper again, but also the grandparents of their child; a child born out of wedlock.

_I'm screwed._

His quiet self-pity fest was interrupted by a knock on the door by the nurse returning after cleaning up. His eyes darted to her, and his anxious state earned him a smile. "Are you ready to meet your daughter, Mr. Stark?"

He took one last sip of his juice before throwing it in the nearest trashcan. He stood up and wordlessly followed the nurse down the hall and into the elevator. Once there, the nurse pressed the button for the 7th floor, and he held his breath, staring at the numbers slowly blinking on an off as they headed up. A few seconds later, the doors finally opened to reveal a long hall, not much different than the floor where Pepper was being held. The nurse pointed Tony to exit the elevator, which he immediately did.

Once out, Tony followed the nurse to the middle of the hall where they made a right, walked to the middle of it again, and made a left. After only a few steps, Tony was faced with a long glass wall, showing many cribs filled with babies on the other side of where he stood.

"Wait right here, Mr. Stark. I'll bring her right out."

Tony nodded, unable to say anything as the butterflies in his stomach made it difficult to think. He watched the nurse walk inside the room and head straight to a middle crib. She carefully picked up a tiny baby wrapped in pink clothes before turning around and exiting the room with the child in her arms. Tony held his breath as the bundle was taken to him.

"Hello, baby Stark, it's time to meet your daddy."

Tony's eyes glued to his daughter, in awe at how tiny she was. He quickly determined that in Pepper's condition, the baby was probably malnourished. The lack of nutrients, however, had no impact on the cute looks of her. The nurse had been correct; she was going to be a heartbreaker.

_Just like her daddy._

_ "_Would you like to carry her?"

Tony looked at the nurse and then back at baby Stark, unconsciously extending his arms to take her in. The nurse could tell Tony had never held a baby before, so she took a moment to show him the proper way to do so. After making sure he was correctly holding her, the nurse excused herself to give the new father time alone with his daughter. Tony's smile came to him without even realizing it, the girl in his hands already filling his heart with joy.

"Hey, cutie! Do you know who I am?" He asked, quickly being able to tell this was definitely Pepper's little girl. The signature freckles and red hair were already visible on the infant, and while her eyes were still closed, he could already appreciate she had inherited his curled eyelashes.

Not once in a million years had he ever seen himself becoming a father. After his failed attempts at bonding with his own progenitor, he had sworn that if he was not able to be the best dad he could be he would rather not be a father at all. The board of directors at SI had been more than happy with that, since the lack of a successor meant the members of the board could take over the controlling interest of the company at the moment of Tony's passing.

A few years ago he had not cared if the company went under. Today, at this very moment, there was no way in hell he would leave his daughter and her mother without a roof or means to live in case he was not around.

Tony's light movements caused baby Stark to wiggle, slowly opening her eyes to reveal the largest set of brown eyes he had seen on someone other than himself. He expected the newborn to start screaming bloody murder any moment now, but when she just stared back at him with inquisitive eyes, he could not help the chuckle that escaped him. "Do you want to come home with me?"

His question brought to him the realization that, as much as he wanted to bring the baby home this very moment, he could not –at least not until he made some phone calls to prepare the penthouse for her arrival. After what felt as if it were just seconds but had been almost five minutes, the nurse reappeared in front him, giving him an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, but I've got to take her back. We can discharge her as soon as you're ready, but not until we are sure certain precautions will be taken upon her departure."

Tony gave his girl one last smile before reluctantly handing her back to the nurse, who took her in with the same caution Tony had been holding her. "Be careful, she's tiny," he said.

The nurse chuckled at the already worrying new father, assuring him she was going to be alright. "Let me get her back to her crib for dinner time, and I'll meet you later to discuss what you'll need to do to take baby Stark home."

"OK, just…you know, please be…"

"We will; don't worry."

"Right! OK, uhm…I'll see you downstairs," he finally said, following the path of baby Stark's trek with his eyes. Once she was hidden behind the crib, he turned around and returned to the elevator. He pressed the button for the 3rd floor and waited for the doors to open. Once they did, he stepped out to the hall and as he rounded the corner, he saw Happy and Rhodey talking to the same two doctors that had visited them earlier.

Rhodey gulped at seeing Tony approach them, and avoided his glare at all costs. Once Tony arrived to join the group, he crossed his arms and stared at everyone present; not at all comfortable with the silence that had befallen them as soon as he had arrived.

"So, what's the deal here?" he asked in his all-business voice.

"We would like to move Ms. Potts to another floor, out of the ICU," the female doctor said.

"Why? Where? Not to the morgue, I hope."

"Not, not at all," the male doctor responded. "We only had her here to prevent the news of her arrival from reaching the media. She's not in critical condition, so a regular room will suffice."

"OK? When will she wake up?"

"We, actually, don't know why she hasn't woken up yet. She's not in a comatose state. Her lungs and heart are working properly. The lacerations on her body have been disappearing every day. We're feeding her via IV and she has gained some weight-"

Tony's head snapped back, holding up a hand in front of him to stop the doctor's analysis. "Whoa! You mean to tell me she was _skinnier_ than this?"

"The most prominent flesh came from her pregnant belly."

It was now Happy's turn to look taken aback. His head snapped several times between Tony and Rhodey, eyes wide in surprise and not believing his ears. "Boss, you have a kid?"

Tony smiled at Happy's old nickname for him, knowing how silly it was for him to continue using it. Yes, Happy had been Tony's bodyguard for ages, but it had been a long time since Tony had ceased being his immediate superior. After taking over the Head of Security position at SI, and recovering from the attack caused by the Mandarin –and losing his pinky finger on his left hand due to it, Tony had thought that Happy would move on from using such a title for him.

Rhodey's loud clearing of his throat was not unnoticed by the uncomfortable-looking doctors and Tony, making the latter narrow his eyes at his friend, remembering he still owed him a chat.

"Yes, Happy. A girl, tell you later, OK?" Tony said in a hurry, attempting to focus his attention to the doctors' information. Rhodey's throat clearing became even louder at Tony's statement.

"Alright! Congrats!" Happy stated as he swatted Tony's arm. Tony nodded quickly before returning his attention to the medics.

"Anyway. If she's alright but just hasn't woken up, can I take her home?"

"It might become a possibility in a couple of weeks. We'd like to run some more tests and begin treatment to help her finish cleaning her up. Depending on her reaction to the procedures, we can discuss her discharge in about two weeks."

"Fair enough. When will you move her?"

"Immediately, we just needed your signed consent," the female doctor explained as she took out a piece of paper from the folder she carried. Tony grabbed the pen she offered him and signed the transfer. After thanking Tony for his cooperation, the doctors again disappeared down the hall, leaving the three men to stare at each other.

Tony caught the look of longing in Happy's eyes as he stared at Pepper's door, remembering he was not the only one relieved to learn Pepper had survived. He was probably the one that missed her the most, but that did not mean other people were not happy to have her back.

"Hey, Hap. Why don't you go see her?"

Happy's mouth dropped at the suggestion, not sure if Tony was joking. Tony was not known for sharing Pepper time. Then again, he was not known to be a bad friend either.

"Maybe I shouldn't, since they're moving her, you know?"

Tony shrugged. "Tell you what? Why don't you make sure she's taken care of during the transfer while I talk to Rhodey about something, uh?"

With a nod, Happy made his way inside Pepper's room, leaving Tony and Rhodey alone to _talk_.

xxxXXXxxx

After examining every inch of Pepper's new room, Happy Hogan walked out of it, saluting his boss to relay his approval of the new accommodations. Tony saluted back as he stood up, making his way inside Pepper's room, eager to see her again. Happy allowed the couple some privacy and walked towards Rhodey, sitting next to him, taking up the seat Tony had just relinquished.

"That's a good look for you, Rhodey," Happy said, pointing to the new black eye the General sported despite the continuous glare from Rhodes.

"Shut up, Happy," Rhodey warned, earning him a light chuckle from Hogan.

"So, Tony seems normal."

Rhodey's raised eyebrows and slumped shoulders caused Happy to shrug. "You know what I mean. I'd figured he'd be, I don't know…freaking out?"

"He did; you just didn't see it."

"Ah!" Happy whispered. "I'm happy."

"And I'm Rhodes. Your point?"

"What? Oh! Not that!"

"What? Oh! Whatever, I'm still recovering from the beating," Rhodey said, realizing his mistake before chuckling to himself. "I'm happy for them, too."

"I can't believe she made it," Happy began. "It's a goddamned miracle. She better wake up soon, though. Tony needs her; their daughter needs her."

"I know. You should've seen her when I found her, Happy. As bad as she looks right now, she looks MUCH better than before. And, as much as I want her to wake up, at the same time I don't."

"Why?"

"Think about it, man. What if the Pepper we all knew is no longer there? A fall like that; it can really mess you up. Memory loss? Nerve damage? Brain damage?"

"Mhmm, I…I hadn't really thought about that. I guess the doctors can't tell if there's memory damage until she wakes up."

Rhodey shook his head. "I just hope she at least remembers Tony, even if it's just the old Tony. If not…we're gonna need to tie him up so he doesn't do something stupid."

"Tie him up? Psh, he might enjoy that. As far as the stupid prevention technique…meh, not so much we can do about it. I mean, it's Tony."

"True," the General said as he stared at the door. Happy followed the path of his eyes as they both silently prayed their greatest fears were everything but true.

xxxXXXxxx

"Honey, can you hear me?" Tony asked the sleeping woman as he leaned over and kissed her forehead. He then sat on the edge of the much larger bed to which Pepper had been transferred. His back faced the entrance so that he could look at her. He held her hand in both of his, absentmindedly rubbing circles on it as he spoke to her as if she were awake and responding.

"Guess who I met today? Our daughter! She's beautiful, Pepper. She has your hair, but she has my _dashing_ eyes."

The setting sun and diminishing light coming from the window caught his attention for a minute. He let go of her hand and bent down, taking off his shoes and throwing them under the bed. He then slowly climbed onto the bed and placed his body sideways next to hers, getting as close to her as he could. He rested his weight on his left arm so that he was able to look down at her as he continued his one-sided conversation.

"You know, I got a dog. I named him Jarvis. He's good company. You're gonna love him."

He rearranged her hair so that it was placed away from her face, allowing him to see more of it –or as much as he could with the dimming light. "What is that? You don't like my haircut? I'll have it cut tomorrow, how is that?"

The silently pleading man removed his weight from his arm, placing his head on the side of her pillow and surrounding her waist with his right arm. He knew that if it was not for his money and his threat to the doctors, he would have not been allowed to be where he was at the moment. He planned to take full advantage of the opportunity he had, hospital rules and regulations be damned.

"I'm gonna buy us a nightlight when you move in back with me," he continued his random babbling. "We won't be able to use my reactor for it, anymore. I took it out, Pepper. It's gone," he said as he tapped his chest to prove his point. "I'm now just another average Joe. No more saving the world for me. No more headaches for you. When you wake up…" he began before sighing.

"You'll…you'll stick around, right?" he asked as he closed his eyes.

"I can't believe you're here, Pep. I'd given up…I thought…" he began before exhaling. "I still love you, Pepper. I still do."

Allowing his body to rest, Tony took one last deep breath before losing himself to sleep. Had he remained awake for just a handful more of seconds, he would have noticed the small smirk on his companion's face.

* * *

**A/N:** Any guesses as to what will happen next? I just watched IR3 for the second time, yesterday. I want the movie on DVD NAO!


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Are you sure this is a safe replacement for baby food?" Tony asked his virtual butler and forever-online friend, staring with doubtful eyes at the small can of the powder that had just arrived in bulk at his doorstep. The engineer had reluctantly left Pepper's side this morning to visit the penthouse to make sure all preparations for his baby's move-in day were ready.

"I am certain, sir. Based on the medical records you submitted to me, this particular source of nourishment is the most appropriate to eliminate the shortcomings caused by the premature birth of the baby."

Tony opened the can to examine the white powder mix before quickly closing it and making a disgusted face at the foul odor that nearly made him gag. "I hope it tastes better than it smells."

"Indeed. The delivery of the furniture for the nursery has been scheduled for 3 o'clock today. The installation and piecing together of the items will begin shortly after that."

"How about my meeting with Pepper's parents? How did that go?"

"My attempts to reach out to them have been unsuccessful. Multiple voicemails are yet to be returned."

"Figures. I'm gonna have to go in person and knock at their door."

"So it would seem, sir."

Tony placed the can back inside the box where he had collected it from and closed the box's lid. He slowly walked around the boxes of the new items he had bought this morning until he finally reached the couch. He plopped down on it and admired his pending projects. His once pristine, albeit abandoned, New York penthouse was now filled with boxes of food, bags of clothes for him, the baby and Pepper, as well as stacks of company reports and other documents that needed his review and/or approval. His personal mail for the last year had also been delivered to him this morning in several boxes, and it had included fan mail for the now deceased Iron Man.

With so much to do from the company's standpoint, he felt as if the corporation had been on stand-by for a year, purposefully clinging on to all sorts of boring paperwork in the hope to one day dump them at Tony's feet. Coming back to the real world also entailed dealing with the responsibilities of the CEO of a multibillion dollar company; responsibilities he had not cared for since Pepper had become CEO. With his return and Pepper's absence, the Board of Directors had been trying to meet with him to discuss business matters of his future involvement with SI. So far, he had been acutely avoiding them with the excuse that he had family matters to tend to; an excuse the Board found difficult to believe.

_I don't care what they think. They still need my money and brain._

The movers would be here today to rearrange the penthouse to allow space for the baby furniture he had ordered. An expert had been hired to baby proof the penthouse, and to show Tony the basics of caring for his daughter. He knew it would probably be easier to have a live-in nanny, but he had decided that his daughter deserved as much of his full attention and care as he could offer her.

His next step was to settle Jarvis into the city life; having been raised to leave the cabin whenever he pleased –a commodity that would not be available at the high-rise, was going to be difficult to retrain. Then, in two weeks from today –or so he hoped, bringing in Pepper to their new home to recover at her own pace would become his number one priority. In just a few weeks he would have everything he did not know he always wanted, and what he had thought he had lost, all in one place. He had no intentions of rebuilding his home in Malibu just yet, at least not before consulting Pepper about it, so the penthouse would have to serve as their temporary nest for now. He was determined to make the experience as smooth and joyful for his new little family as he could, even if it cost him his sleep.

"Sir, Mr. Hogan boarded the service elevator a few minutes ago, heading to this destination. He will be here, shortly."

"Did he bring my dog?"

"Yes."

"Good."

Jarvis had been staying with Happy for the past 48 hours while Tony settled his business at the hospital. Now that he had decided that he was staying in New York indefinitely, his canine companion could join him at their new place. Tony stretched his arms as he stood up from the couch and headed to the service elevator entrance. He arrived just in time to welcome the guests.

"Jarvis!" Tony said as he bent down to hug his only roommate for the past year. Jarvis was equally happy to see his owner once more, licking Tony's face and whimpering as he did so.

"You missed me, buddy?"

"Yeah, he did. He peed on my bed, you know?" Happy said, removing the leash from Jarvis and walking towards the living room.

"Consider it a _thank you_, Hap."

"I'll send you the dry cleaning bill."

"I'll send it to you for processing," Tony retorted as he stood up from the ground to allow Jarvis to sniff around the premises. He then walked toward the couch and sat next to Happy. Said man stared at the chaotic state the room presently was in, knowing he would have to help Tony with it until late at night if they wanted to be ready for the baby. However, he could not help to smile at the irony of Tony Stark settling down.

"Did you buy the entire company or just everything in their inventory?"

Tony cleared his throat. "I, uhm…perhaps went a little bit overboard."

"That's the understatement of the year."

"Really? I thought that'd be 'The Head of SI Security is an ass.'"

"Oh! I wasn't aware they downgraded you to that position, Tony."

"Well, they made me promise not to tell you. I even_ pinky_ promised it," Tony jabbed at Happy's lost limb, immediately irritating the crap out of the former chauffeur.

"That's how it is now? After I watched over your dog, this is how you're treating me now? I swear! If I had a dime for everything I helped…"

Tony grabbed the closest cushion at hand and threw it at Happy, instantly stopping the man's banter. "Calm down, Happy. I'm just repeating the word on the street."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Word on the street is that some idiot bought the entire Pottery Barn inventory for his new house. What do you have to say about that, huh?"

"Guilty as charged," Tony said with a satisfied smile on his face, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "I'd love, seriously, to stay here and watch _**Pinky**__ and the Brain_ with you, but I've got a hair appointment to keep."

"A hair appointment? What are you gonna do? Shave your…"

"Sir," Jarvis said, unknowingly interrupting Happy's attempt at a crude joke. "General Rhodes has arrived at the Tower. Should I let him in?"

"Sure, why not," Tony responded as he headed to the elevator to meet the stylist that would be waiting for him downstairs.

"Will do, sir," the AI responded.

"Tell him to get a badge!" Happy yelled at Jarvis as the elevator doors closed, inciting a chuckle from the former playboy.

xxxXXXxxx

Regardless of the bright sun outside, the meeting room inside the clandestine facilities was dark as night. The only two occupants had remained quiet since their arrival, silently measuring up their potential business partner's intentions. While they both had been almost successful in planning their attempts to take down their common enemy, they had both also failed miserably in their execution.

After a handful of minutes, the primary organizer of the impromptu meeting spoke up, calculating his words before uttering them.

"I heard you have news of his whereabouts. I wonder how accurate these rumors are."

"As accurate as they can be. I have more than just the location of his current accommodations. I've also learned of some interesting developments in his life. New…priorities, I should say."

"Intriguing. However, if I may, I question the sources that provided you with his information, seeing not many of them are around anymore."

"My sources are accurate. You can even say that I heard it from the horse's mouth."

"Ah! An infiltrator?"

"Of a sort, yes."

"I see. Well, it seems we both have what the other is looking for. I'd like to jump the gun and say our partnership would be prolific, but I've learned my lessons from past partnership's mistakes, and I must ask you to provide some sort of…collateral."

"Collateral? What did you have in mind?"

"A couple of options, but I'd like to start with a test."

"What sort of test?"

The man in charge slid a folder on the table over to his guest. The guest grabbed the folder and opened it, briefly skimming through its contents.

"How are they involved?"

"They are not, yet. But, seeing as the media influence is a good way to get powerful people locked up, I think our friend won't be immune to action taken by them," he said as he pointed to the names listed on the papers the guest had just received. "Besides, I've heard you have experience in manipulating the power of the media. Correct?"

The guest remained quiet, weighing his opportunity to have an equal authority in this partnership. The man in front of him was more devious and informed than he had thought. Perhaps the seclusion and interaction with the city's worst citizens had changed the way the man saw the world, directly impacting his need to know he was a step ahead everyone's game.

"What is it exactly that you want me to do?"

"I want you to share what you know about him, and make sure the people listed there find out. I want you to make sure the_ horse's _boss isn't prepared for the leak, and has no opportunity to clean up the mess after it."

"I see. But, don't you think the information is worth more if you have it first?"

"A few years ago, I would have. But I've learned from you that the best trait for people like us to have is anonymity. I'm sure you agree."

"More than you can ever imagine."

xxxXXXxxx

"And then, after feeding her, you will have to help her burp if she doesn't do it on her own," the baby expert Tony had hired said to her students as she modeled the baby burping position. Sitting across her standing form in Stark's living room sat three men, each holding a toy baby in one hand, a burping cloth on the other, and a confused look on their faces.

"Now, let's practice by making your baby burp."

Happy, Rhodey and Tony all stared at each other before staring down at their plastic baby animatronic. Tony scratched his head, fearing these lessons were not as productive as he had expected them to be. He had already forgotten half of what the expert had taught him, and he expected his other two friends were not fairing much better than him.

Except maybe for Happy, who had immediately placed the toy baby on his chest, the cloth on his shoulder, and was slowly patting the toy baby's back while making cooing sounds. Tony stared at Happy and tried his best to mimic his movements while looking extremely awkward and unsure of himself.

Rhodey, on the other hand, was having a difficult time seeing what the expert was modeling to them since his left eye was still swollen shut. He had not been able to put on his contacts today due to the irritation and pain they caused and his regular glasses did not fit around the injury, so he was trying to interpret shadows and shapes and translating them into meaningful actions.

The patience of the baby expert was running thin. She could not believe the man that had hired her was the greatest inventor on the planet seeing as how much he was struggling with simple tasks of baby care. She kept her exasperated sigh to herself at seeing two out of three students fail to follow her directions. Not to mention, the frustration of trying to teach her knowledge while hammering, sawing, cleaning, and cooking were all happening in the background.

"Mr. Stark?" a male voice called from the service elevator. "The furniture has been assembled in the baby room. We're gonna start taking down the empty boxes now!"

"Yeah, alright!" Tony responded, not sure what he had just agreed to. His eyes were focused on the animatronic baby's face, waiting for the damned burping sound to come out.

The instructor walked over to her students to monitor their progress, starting by Happy who was the best of the three. The moment she stood in front of him, a happy burp came out of the robot baby, signaling Happy's efforts had been successful.

"Very good, Mr. Hogan! You are by far the fastest learner I've had!"

"Thank you," Happy said with a big smile and a small tint of red coming to his cheeks. Tony scoffed and rolled his eyes, envying Happy's ability to care for a baby. Tony's frustration was heightened with the known fact that he would have to do this for real in a few days, and he felt he was nowhere closer to being ready for it.

"Hear, that, Tony? I'm the fastest learner she's ever had!"

"Oh, I'm sorry! She said fastest? I thought she said _fattest_," Tony retorted to Happy, making Happy glare back at Stark.

"Mr. Stark, how is your baby burping going?"

Tony stretched his head away from the baby, trying to get a clear look at it. No burping sound was coming out, so he increased his efforts by patting faster and harder on the baby's back.

"Now, we don't want to do it too hard or the baby might –" The instructor was not able to finish her sentence due to the loud burp Tony's toy baby made, followed by a display of projectile vomiting at its fullest. Tony slowly pulled the baby off his chest to stare at the fake vomit that looked a little bit too real for his taste.

"Calm down, boss. You're gonna make the baby sick if you keep patting her as if she was made of iron! Don't worry, I'll show you how it's done."

"Shut up, Happy! I didn't do it too hard; I just forgot I have the extra strength of a _fifth_ finger!"

"You son of a…"

"Mr. Rhodes?" the instructor said aloud, trying to break up the argument before it really took off.

Rhodey narrowed his eyes at her, trying to read her expression to determine if he was doing this the proper way. When his eyes failed him, he resorted to asking the question out loud.

"My baby is not burping; maybe it's defective."

Tony turned left to face his friend, making an _are-you-kidding-me_ look he knew Rhodey could not quite see. "It's not the baby that's defective. It's you! You're patting the wrong part!"

"What?" Rhodey inquired as he squinted his eyes once more to see what Tony was talking about.

"Mr. Rhodes, I'm afraid Mr. Stark is correct. You are patting the baby's bottom."

Happy and Tony's snickered did not wait to appear, making Rhodey feel even more uncomfortable than he already felt without the full use of his eyesight.

"Yo, Rhodes! I don't think you want the baby to burp from _that_ end!" Happy informed him.

"Be quiet!" Rhodey demanded as he haphazardly flipped the baby, only to cause the toy to react at the sudden move and fill the General's face with the result of the fake regurgitation.

"See, _that_…" Tony began, pointing at Rhodey's misfortune, "That right there is priceless! Happy, give Rhodey a high-five…oh, wait!"

The next thing Tony felt were the continuous hits of toy babies to his back.

xxxXXXxxx

The Stark limousine rounded the corner of the street and was driven inside the basement parking lot of the tower. Inside, the three adult passengers –driver notwithstanding, stared down at the precious cargo in Tony's arms. Neither of them had wanted to make any sudden moves or sounds as to not disturb the sleeping baby. They had waited almost the entire day for her discharge forms to be completed, and as the sun was setting in the horizon, the final paper had been signed and Tony had been able to bring his daughter home.

Since he had been given full responsibility for the child, Tony had not uttered more than two words since leaving the hospital, silently reciting anything he remembered the baby expert had told him about the first days of baby Stark adjusting to her new environment. He anticipated some sleepless nights, but as long as his daughter was safe and healthy, he would welcome the old habits of staying awake for hours on end.

Happy had noticed Tony's look of concentration throughout the entire drive home, and even though he had been dying to see Tony struggle with the obstacles of parenthood, he was well aware of the fact that this was Pepper's baby as well; he did not want to tell Pepper how he allowed Tony to ruin their daughter's first days at the tower.

Noticing that the drive was about to come to an end, Happy decided to catch Tony's attention, bringing him back to reality.

"So, Tony? What you're gonna name her?" Happy asked, surprised at how similar the baby toys they had practiced with just a few days ago resembled the live baby sleeping in Tony's arms.

Tony stared at Happy with a look of confusion, as if his brain was having a difficult time processing what he had been asked. Once he realized what Happy had asked, he stared down at the baby as he responded.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? You can't keep calling her baby Stark all her life?"

Stark slumped his shoulders at the ridiculous notion. "Well, duh! I just…I want Pepper to have a say."

Happy's pre-planned retort died in his lips at the mention of his unconscious friend and boss. Even though Pepper had been looking better and better every time they visited her, she was nowhere near awakening, and while Tony was hiding his frustration at this fact as best as he could, Happy could feel Tony's fear building up. What if Pepper never woke up, after all? What if the hope he had been given was all for naught?

Happy nodded to Tony, signaling the end of their conversation. He then stared at the General, who had been awfully quiet since their arrival to the hospital earlier today. He figured this silence was due to similar thoughts crossing Rhodey's mind. However, unbeknownst to Happy and Tony, Rhodey's concerns were far greater than either of them could imagine.

_Tony's gonna kill me. He's gonna kill me dead_, Rhodey told himself, already feeling the beating he was surely to receive –perhaps even from Happy this time, and almost wishing he had the gonads to tell the driver to turn around and head back to the hospital.

The limousine came to a full stop, prompting the driver to exit the vehicle. Once the door closed, a screen popped up from the ceiling of the car, displaying the SI logo and welcome screen for Tony.

"Jarvis," Tony whispered. "Take us down."

"Immediately, Sir," the AI responded as the limousine began to go underground. To prevent anyone from seeing the baby, Tony had decided to use the secret entrance he always used when running away from the press. The parking spot for the limousine was actually set atop of an automatic platform, which lowered to the ground at Tony's request. The parking spot was then replaced by a fake cover while the passengers exited the vehicle, only to return to its position above the passage once emptied.

The trio of men exited the limousine, hardly putting any effort in closing the doors. The passage was not very well lit, but whatever light available was sufficient for them to reach the service elevator doors and calling it to take them the penthouse floor.

Rhodey kept staring at baby Stark from the corner of his eyes with a look that was difficult to read. Every other minute he would take a deep breath and rub his face with his hands, alternating the motion with placing his weight on one foot and then the other.

Tony kept his eyes on his daughter, making him completely unaware of Rhodey's internal debate. Happy, however, eyed the General with suspicious eyes, wondering what could possibly be bothering Rhodey as much.

The ding of the elevator signaled the arrival at the penthouse, and as soon as the doors opened, the three of them wasted no time in exiting the small room. Tony sat in the middle of the couch, not wanting to let go of his baby just yet. Happy walked over to the TV and grabbed the remote before sitting at the couch next to Tony's right. Rhodey sat on Tony's left, finding it impossible to find a comfortable position on the couch.

Tony was silently counting his blessings at knowing Rhodey and Happy had agreed to stay in the penthouse with him to help him watch over the baby while he left to visit Pepper or slowly retaking his position as CEO. Happy focused his attention at the TV while Rhodes constantly cleared his throat. Tony eyed his new permanent dwelling, and could not believe the fully equipped premises that had once been his bachelor pad now resembled a true home.

"God! There isn't room for one more piece of furniture here, is there?" Tony said, making Rhodey flinch.

"Jeez, Boss," Happy began. "Pottery Barn's gonna go bankrupt without your business."

Despite Happy's attempt at poking fun at Tony, both men chuckled at his comment.

"Tony," Rhodey began. "There's something I've got to tell you."

"What is it, platypus?" Tony asked as he rearranged the baby's position so that she was not lying at an awkward angle.

"I, uhm…maybe, maybe you should hand me the baby, first."

"What? Why?"

"You look…tired…I'll handle her for you."

"Nah, I'm fine."

"Are-are you sure?" Rhodey insisted.

"Yeah, positive."

"OK. Anyway, Tony, I think you should know that –"

"Sir," Jarvis interrupted. "You have an incoming call to your cell phone from the hospital."

Tony frowned looking down at his pocket where his phone resided. "No, I don't."

"Your phone is in silent mode, sir."

"Aw, crap! You're right!" Tony said, remembering he silenced his phone while the paperwork was filled out at the hospital. "Someone, get my phone out of my pocket," Tony asked as he stood up, slightly lifting the hip where his phone lay.

Happy stood up after him and was aiming for his pocket when he realized where the hand could land. "Uh, I don't think…maybe Rhodey should do it."

Rhodey stood up and as soon as he saw what Happy was avoiding, he too declined.

"Dammit, guys! My phone is ringing!"

"The call is still connected, sir."

"Can't you just answer it for me?"

"I'm afraid you have not finished fully recalibrating me to interact with all your devices again, sir."

"Dammit! Can someone please…wait. No, maybe I shouldn't answer the call."

"What do you mean you shouldn't answer?" Happy demanded. "It's the hospital, it must be important!"

"But, what if they want the baby back?"

"That's ridiculous!"

Rhodey saw his opportunity and took it. "I think Tony's right. Don't answer. If it's that important they will leave a voicemail."

Happy stared at Rhodey with wide eyes, not being able to believe his ears. "Are you serious? What if it's something else? What if…?"

"PEPPER!" Tony yelled. "What if Pepper woke up? Take the phone! Take the phone, Rhodey!"

"I'm not touching you!"

"Rhodey!"

"I'm not…well, give me the baby; you get your phone."

"OK!" Tony said as he handed the baby to Rhodey. Tony took out his phone, but by the time he pressed the answer button, the call was lost.

"Dammit!" Tony said as he smashed the phone on the coffee table in front of them. "This is not good, not good."

"Tony –" Rhodey began but was again interrupted. This time, it was as the phone was ringing again that he took his last opportunity at redemption.

"Got it!" Tony said as he pressed the speaker option of the phone, opening the call. "Tony Stark."

"Mr. Stark! I'm so glad I was able to get a hold of you. There's been a slight miscommunication."

Tony felt his heartbeat climbing. Maybe Rhodey was right! Maybe he should have not taken the call! He swallowed hard as he stared at Happy and Rhodey, seeing the distress reflecting back to him in their eyes.

"Mr. Stark? Are you there?"

"Yes. I…what miscommunication are you talking about? You're not taking my baby back, right?"

The nurse on the line chuckled. "Of course not, Mr. Stark! We were just wondering when you'd be coming back for the other one."

The silence in the room was deafening as all of them slowly sat back down on the couch, forgetting how to breathe. Tony swallowed hard again as he leaned forward to the phone, talking to it as if he was afraid his voice would break it apart. "Coming back for the other one _what-now_?"

"The other baby. Your boy is waiting for you."

Both Happy and Tony slowly turned to face Rhodey who was now holding onto baby Stark as if it were his only ticket to remaining alive. Said General exhaled deeply, looking down as he spoke to no one in particular.

"Oh, shit."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The knock on the door startled Tony out of his difficult research. The door opened slightly to reveal a young nurse that he had never seen before. He figured the hospital was tired of the older nurse messing up his life with half-assed performances, and had decided to send someone new to provide new half-assed performances and information.

"Mr. Stark, I'm sorry to bother you, but the doctor sent me to get you. The panel of doctors is ready to meet you."

"Alright," Tony retorted as he stared down at the many articles he had on the table and decided to gather them all together in the folder he had brought. "Give a few minutes to clean up over here. I'll meet you at the elevator."

"Very well," the nurse responded, closing the door on her way back to the hall. Tony tried his best to arrange the papers in some sort of logical order, or at least in the order he would need them for the meeting with Pepper's doctors. Once he was somewhat satisfied with the organization, he placed the folder under his arm and walked to Pepper's sleeping form.

"Honey, I gotta go to work. I'll be back in a while," he whispered to her, leaning over and kissing her forehead and cheek. With one last look at the once quick-witted woman that had tried to keep his life and reputation in check, he turned around, exited the room he had been visiting for the past week and headed to the elevator to meet his guide.

The ride on the elevator was quiet, for which he was grateful since it gave him a chance to review his evidence to support his case. The medical care Pepper had been receiving since his notification of her whereabouts had been successful in cleaning up her skin to the point that no more lacerations or bruises were present, but the continued inability of the doctors to determine the cause of her unconscious state was driving him insane.

The last few days had been a rollercoaster of clashing emotions. Happiness from bringing their daughter home, then shock to find out he was the father of TWO children. Frustration from having his home filled with strangers to rearrange his belongings to fit baby boy Stark, and now the fear that Pepper would not be around to see their kids grow up.

The doctors had told Tony that they could discuss her discharge to his home after clearing her from possible life-threatening illness that could be causing her nearly comatose state. The deadline expired in three days from today, and Tony had spent almost every day in her room, running his own tests with the help from Jarvis, and reviewing the files of the Extremis virus she had been injected with. He was growing more and more concerned that Aldrich had in fact done more to her than what he had let on, and perhaps altered Pepper's genetic code more than needed.

Needless to say, he had kept the Extremis virus situation from the doctors, knowing that such news would make it more difficult for him to get her released from the hospital. If the wrong people found out that Pepper could be carrying a DNA reprogram that could make her mentally unstable and/or a threat to others, they would surely take her away from him and their kids.

He knew he could just snatch her out of the hospital whenever he wanted to, but he had been very successful in keeping the media from finding out about their dilemma that he did not want to drop the ball. With all of the bombshells that had been dropped on him since Rhodey visited his cabin in Colorado, he had not had the time to properly inform Pepper's family of the situation taking place. He decided that if he was unsuccessful in convincing the panel of doctors to let Pepper come home with him, he would have to talk to her parents so that when he kicked and punched their way out of the confines of the medical facilities, they would not be surprised to see him lose it in the news.

Before he realized, the nurse had stopped guiding him and was staring at him after trying to get his attention several times. He turned to face her and shook his head, apologizing for being distracted.

"You may go inside, Mr. Stark. Good luck; I hope they agree to let you take your girlfriend home."

Tony gave the nurse a sincere smile before he opened the door and walked inside the small conference room. He was greeted by the scene of a large table, with six doctors sitting behind it. There was a single chair in front of them, which Tony assumed was placed there for his use. He sat on said chair and cleared his throat.

"So, how are we doing?"

"Mr. Stark, as promised, we'd like you to meet the specialists that have been tending to Ms. Potts's strange condition. You already know me and Dr. Grant," the female doctor he had met before said, Dr. Verne.

"This," Dr. Verne continued, "is Dr. Borders, he is a neurologist. This is Dr. Road, she is a traumatologist. This is Dr. Greene; she is a hematologist, and finally, Dr. Hodge; he is an oncologist."

Tony's eyes narrowed at the mention of an oncologist as part of the team, but tried his best to not look as distraught as he felt about this fact. He had not considered that Pepper's issues could be linked to an undetected form of cancer, mostly due to the fact that Jarvis' records had failed to find any indication that any growths were present in her body.

At the lack of reaction from Tony, Dr. Grant took over the lead of the meeting. "We've been dutifully reviewing the medical records of Ms. Potts, and it is an understatement to say we are quite puzzled by her condition. As you know, Ms. Potts was brought here, eight months into her pregnancy, with multiple injuries and extreme signs of malnutrition.

"So far, we were able to submit Ms. Potts to a cesarean and prematurely extracted the babies to help them and her with their recovery. The two children, as you already know, have been bouncing back quite gracefully despite the initial doubts that they would do so. With the children showing signs of improvement, we've dedicated our time to determine a course of action for Ms. Potts

"Due to the fact that we have been unable to find a reasonable cause for her current state, and after performing several tests which have been brought back with nothing more than clean bills of health, we recommend Ms. Potts to be transferred to a specialized facility where more advanced procedures can be performed to help her come out of her unconscious state."

"Is this your recommendation or your order?"

"Recommendation, Mr. Stark. Without your approval, we will have no option but to release her to your care. We are aware that you've been doing research of your own, and while we strongly encourage you to consider consulting specialists, Ms. Potts can be taken home with you. However, we fear that the lack of a medical environment with constant monitoring may be detrimental to her health."

"How so?"

"Well," Dr. Borders began, "despite the inconclusive tests we have run, I strongly believe Ms. Potts's condition _is_ neurological in essence. The brain is a powerful organ that we yet have much to learn of. The last experience of Ms. Potts is…shocking, to say the least. I wouldn't discard the possibility that the effects of her encounter with death are related to her current inability to wake up. I'm no psychologist or psychiatrist, but I've known patients that have willingly forgotten entire lifetimes as a mechanism to cope with tragic events. Perhaps, Ms. Potts's state is voluntary. Perhaps, Ms. Potts is not ready to deal with the reality of the situation, regardless of it turning out better than she thought."

"So, you're saying that maybe Pepper _doesn't_ want to wake up?"

Dr. Borders shrugged. "All I'm saying is that I don't know that many people that can live through what she did and walk away mentally unscathed."

Tony hung his head, staring at the folder on his lap. All his research had focused on physical causes for her state because they were the most obvious reasons, and because physical ailments were easier to treat. He had no idea on where to start finding a cure for Pepper's broken soul or heart.

"I think Pepper has stayed here long enough. I'm bringing her home."

xxxXXXxxx

Tony sat on a chair, his face covered by his hands, waiting for Pepper's discharge papers to be completed and delivered to him. Even though he had just had the meeting with the panel of specialist earlier today, he had decided there was no reason to keep her here for three more days until the two weeks were up. It was clear to him that the doctors had given up on helping her, and it was now his turn to help her find her way back.

The approaching loud sound of heels stomping on the floor reminded him of Pepper, and for a moment he allowed his mind to take him back to the good old days when the worst thing happening in their tiny world was Tony purposefully missing another meeting at SI. Pepper would be so proud of him if she knew that he had recently begun regaining his CEO presence at SI.

The stomping stopped next to him, inciting him to remove his hands from his face. He figured he was being notified of the completion of the process, which meant Pepper was his to take home. The moment his hands left his face, however, he was dazed by a slap on his cheek.

"How DARE you keep this from us? You-you _bastard_!"

Tony shook his head to help dissipate the stars he was seeing. The slap had not physically hurt him but confused the devil out of him. It was not until his mind matched the voice with its owner that he realized hell had just knocked at his doorstep.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Mr. Stark? Are you not satisfied with the pain you've already put us through? We're too old and tired to be played like this!"

Tony slowly stood up from his chair, turning his head to face a crying and upset Mrs. Potts. Mr. Potts was standing behind his wife, doing little to nothing to stop her attack on the billionaire, and looking ready to slap him too. Tony closed his eyes tight before opening them up again only to see the pissed-off face of Pepper's brother.

"You son-of-a-bitch! You almost let my pregnant sister die? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Tony opened his mouth but no retort seemed sufficient or appropriate for the questions he was being asked. Yes, he had been avoiding telling Pepper's family about her recovery, and the children's existence, among other things. To be fair, he had not even known Pepper was pregnant until the day he arrived at New York, and he truly did not know she had survived until Rhodey broke into his house. However, after two weeks of juggling the changes in his life, it was now clear to him that notifying the family should had been his number one priority. However, all of these reasons sounded more like excuses when being present at the live and impromptu trial Pepper's family was suddenly putting him through by just standing here and demanding answers from him. When he did nothing more than to stare at the family, Pepper's brother –Jack, took this opportunity to grab Tony by the collar and pushed him against a wall.

"Talk, you asshole! Tell us why you've been hiding her?"

"I am NOT hiding her," Tony responded, finally finding his voice. "She's been here for a few months, yes! But, I'm taking her home today."

"The hell you are! She's coming home with us, and so are the children!"

Tony cursed his luck. Somehow, they had found out about Pepper and the kids from someone else's mouth –no wonder they thought he was keeping them from finding out. His anger made its appearance, however, at the thought of losing them both now that he was so close to having them all in one place. Tony raised his hands to grab Jack's wrists and pushed him off. He did not want to insult Pepper's family, but he was also not going to allow them to take her. He knew the moment they had her, he would never hear from her or the kids ever again.

"You're not taking anyone anywhere. You can come with me to Stark Tower, but you're not taking them away from me," Tony stated as calm and collected as possible, but without making it sound as if other possibilities were an option for him.

Joanne Potts walked to her son and slowly pushed him away, standing between Jack and Tony. Her back was against Jack, and her eyes were baring holes on Tony's face. "You have no right to keep her or our grandchildren. You've always been the worst mistake my poor Virginia has ever made; but we're going to make this right for them."

"Please, Joanne," Tony began, trying to reason with the woman. "Pepper needs help. I'm gonna get her all the helps she needs. You can come visit her whenever you want; I want you to, but please don't make this more difficult than it already is. I'm sorry I didn't tell you what was going on; I've been busy trying to fix this for all of them."

"Do you expect us to believe that you have our daughter's well-being in mind?" Greg Potts asked, clearly not buying what Tony was trying to sell. "Haven't you done enough damage to her? Making her deal with the easy women you brought home? Making her do your dirty deeds? Placing her in danger with your stunts? Taking advantage of her blind affection for you to stain her dignity?"

"Stain her…_what_? Greg, I've got every intention of marrying your daughter—"

Greg snorted. "That'd be the day. I'm not allowing Virginia to tie herself to someone like you; it was bad enough that everyone thought she was one of your whores during the time she worked for you."

"That's absolutely untrue, and I don't think that's _your_ choice to make, Greg," Tony said with an unapologetic tone. It was one thing to hear the sensationalistic media berate Pepper, but hearing the same misconceptions from her family was a completely different situation for him.

The argument Greg was ready to use against Tony was placed on hold when Dr. Greene approached them, suddenly feeling uncomfortable for stopping a discussion she knew she had no business listening into. Yet, she knew she had a task to complete, regardless of much fuel it would add to the raging fire, so she cleared her throat to catch the family's attention. "Mr. Stark, Ms. Potts is ready to be released."

"NO!" Joanne yelled at the doctor, attempting to grab the discharge form she had in her hands. The doctor took a step back, holding the paper behind her back, eyeing the three family members wearily.

"I'm sorry, but Mr. Stark is the only one with authorization to take Ms. Potts from the hospital."

"Why I never? _We_ are her parents! _We_ are her real family! He…" Joanne said as she pointed at Tony. "He's a _nobody_!"

"I understand, ma'am, but Mr. Stark holds an irrevocable executor order in which Ms. Potts appoints him to decide her care in the case of her inability to make decisions on her own."

The three family members slowly turned to look at Tony, fire burning in their eyes. This is exactly how Tony foresaw this situation playing out; he just thought he had more time to avoid it. All he did was shrug.

"This is ridiculous! How can _he_ make the decisions for _our_ daughter? He is nothing to her!"

"Ms. Potts's order allows him to."

Tony walked to the doctor and took the form from her, folding it and putting it inside his pocket. He could tell from the look Dr. Greene was giving him that she wanted to leave the premise as soon as possible so he addressed the family again. "Look, I don't know how you found out about all of this, and I know I should've told you first. But, right now, all I want is to take Pepper home with me. You can come with me if you want. Just, please give me a chance to fix this. I know you're her family, but I care for her, too. Don't turn this into a fight you're going to lose."

The three family members stared at each other silently before Joanne spoke to Tony one last time. "You do what you want, Mr. Stark, but don't become accustomed to having her or the babies there with you. It won't be long before we bring them home with us."

xxxXXXxxx

Rhodey and Happy had just left the living room and had headed to their respective floors to rest for the night. The shock of seeing Tony's business laid out in the news after returning from work, and then the stress of welcoming Pepper into the penthouse had left them exhausted for days to come. Neither of them had any idea how the media had gotten a hold of the entire story, so quickly and so detailed, but at this point it did not matter who had spilled the beans. The cat was out of the bag and there was no time to waste in investigations that would serve no true purpose.

Due to this fact, Tony was yet to see wink of sleep since waking up yesterday. He was still wide awake, at 3 in the morning, feeding the twins. His only companions at the moment were Jarvis and…well, Jarvis. The thought of the confusion Rhodes and Hogan had encountered earlier today came to him as he made sure baby boy Stark burped before laying him on his crib again.

"Jarvis," Tony whispered to his ear piece as he exited the twins' room and headed to the kitchen to fix a midnight snack for himself. "I think I'm going to start calling you 'J,' at least when the dog is around, to avoid confusion," Tony pointed out, knowing Jarvis –the dog, had stayed behind to guard the twins in their room.

"An astute suggestion, sir."

Tony opened the refrigerator and took out a plastic container which held the leftovers of today's lunch. He dumped the contents on a disposable plate and shoved them inside the microwave. As he waited for the food to reheat, he took out his electronic tablet and scanned the latest news related to Pepper's return.

The speculations of the media as to why Pepper's reappearance had been kept a secret ranged from the expected to the plain bizarre. One particular reporter had suggested that when Tony had learned of Pepper's unplanned pregnancy, he had arranged for her murder, but that now that she was back, he was trying to cover his tracks by pretending to care about her. Other news reported that Pepper's kids were not Stark's, and that they had separated for a year due to this fact, but that now Tony was ready to forgive her sins and had welcomed her home.

Another reporter had stated that Tony, in a drunken stupor as he was known for, had beaten the living crap out of Pepper after finding out she was with child, and that it had taken him several months to recover from his actions. The more conservative newscasts stated that perhaps the former CEO of Stark Industries had fallen victim of a terminal illness and it had been company strategy to keep the health bill under wraps until Tony Stark was able to step in to prevent the stock from crashing.

Tony chuckled at the thought of how out-there these stories sounded, but how much more incredible the actual truth would sound. The ding of the microwave finishing its job prompted Tony to walk back to the device and taking out the plate of steaming food. He grabbed a fork on his way back to where his tablet lay and spoke to Jarvis in between bites.

"Jarvis, when are the medical devices arriving?"

"At 10 a.m. today, sir. The technicians will hook up Ms. Potts to the machines and show you how to perform these tasks on your own."

"Good. Can you do a search for treatment of patients in a coma?"

"Certainly, though I was under the impression that this was not the condition Ms. Potts suffered from?"

"I…I'm not even sure at this point."

"Very well," the AI said and remained quiet for a moment. Tony took this opportunity to finish his meal, dumped the plate in the trash, and the fork in the dishwasher. By the time he returned to his tablet, Jarvis was ready to relay the findings to Tony.

"Talk to me, Jarv."

"The normal methods of treating coma patients have been removed from the search due to having already been tried at the medical facility. I thought a different, more _unconventional_ approach might be needed."

"How unconventional? Rubbing a rubber chicken on her or…?"

"An emergent service of treating coma patients claims that by positively stimulating the subject, a connection is established that aids the ill into finding their way back home. Such interactions include talking to the patient, playing their favorite songs or television shows within hearing range, preparing their favorite meals, or even using familiar and comforting smells to incite communication."

"I can do that. What about physical therapy?"

"Simple exercises during the comatose state can aid with the recovery time after the patient has awaken. Constant movement will also prevent atrophy and bed sores."

"I can do that, too, I think," Tony said as he sighed. These techniques were no different than what he had tried on his own out of instinct, but hearing that there was some sort of medical backing to support the effectiveness of the methods encouraged him to step up his use of them.

"Tell you what, J. Make me a list of all of these methods and set up a rotation schedule to keep me on track. Work around my meetings at SI."

"Will do, sir. Anything else?"

"Yeah, wake me up at 6."

"That will give you only 2 hours of sleep, at best."

"I've done worse."

"As you wish."

Tony walked over to his bedroom and lay on his bed. Tonight, Pepper was resting on the bed with him, but tomorrow he would relinquish the bedroom so that the devices she needed to feed and cleanse herself were available there. He would take the couch for now, and as long as it took until she woke up.

He moved closer to her, resting his head on her stomach and surrounding her hips with his left hand.

"Pep, do you remember that day I went to see you at your office and brought you strawberries? Do you have any idea what I went there for?"

The silence he expected presented itself, encouraging him to continue his story and hoping that somehow she could hear it.

"I'd just watched a video of dad acting like….a dad, I guess. It shocked me, scared me, and gave me one of those odd moments where you question what the hell you are doing with your life. Can you imagine _me_, freaking out about something like this? Even Jarvis freaked out and started reading my vital signs for signs of early dementia," he finished with a light chuckle.

"Anyway, I thought about something that Yinsen had told me when I left the cave. I thanked him for saving my life, and he told me not to waste it, which was exactly what I was doing when I thought I was gonna die.

"When I asked you if you knew how short life was, I meant it. I thought I was running out of time to tell you many things; many important things. I can't believe I babbled like an idiot, but I wasn't sure how to tell a woman that I loved her –and mean it; especially if she didn't feel the same. And, the strawberry snafu kinda killed it for me, but I still tried."

He moved up until his head reached the pillow next to her. He grabbed her hand in his and remained quiet for a while. He looked over to his nightstand and saw five was approaching, reducing his sleep time to less than an hour.

"When I told you I needed you, I meant it too, even when you told me that you _needed me to leave_. Killian told me I didn't deserve you, and I know he was right. But, don't we all hold on to the things that we don't deserve just because they make us happy? Pepper, I—" Tony began, but the words died in his mouth when he felt pressure on the hand he shared with Pepper. He looked down and saw the knuckles move and felt the grip increase. He looked up to face her, and while her face remained stoic, the strength of the clasp on his hand remained.

* * *

**A/N:** O.M.G. Thank you for so much support! I'm sorry about the cliffies and twists, but…well, that's how I write fics XD Don't believe me? Read my other ones and you'll see this one is nicer in angst than the rest, or maybe you'll find my handle under the "Top authors that live for angst," list. It doesn't exist, but I'm sure my name would be on it. Anyway, Pepper is showing signs of waking up, and it will happen soon. Great things come to those who wait for them ^_^


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

A week after Pepper's release from the hospital, Tony continued following a strict schedule in order to attend the SI meetings, spend time with the twins, and try all the techniques Jarvis had suggested for coma patients. With the inspiration obtained from Pepper squeezing his hand the first night he tried talking to her, his efforts had now taken off. He had massaged Pepper's back and legs to prevent sores, had prepared her favorite meals himself and had eaten them next to her while engaging in casual conversation or telling her about the developments of the company, and had even read to her articles from magazines or books she liked.

While no other noticeable movement from Pepper had been detected by Tony's watchful eyes, Jarvis had found that her brain was reacting to her environment in ways that made them believe she was slowly coming around. At first, the brain activity had been so small that Jarvis had noted it as a fluke. However, the more Tony interacted with Pepper, the more her brain lit up as a response to his actions. Tony could feel that she was coming back soon, and this hope had been the only thing keeping him as sane as possible with all the responsibilities he now had.

He knew that hiring outside parties to help him with his chores was always an option, but he also felt that if he did that, he would be acting just like his father. He did not want his kids to confess to an older Bruce that they were traumatized to have a nanny at 14 –just as he had at some point before leaving for Colorado. He also did not want to relive the arguments their parents had regarding how Howard was always away, and how Maria had to take care of Tony all by herself when the nannies were not around. He did not want Pepper and him to turn into Maria vs. Howard, version 2.0. It was not that his parents did not have good times together, but all Tony could remember the most were the bad times.

Turning his head to the side and reading the time on the clock, he realized the alarm would go off in less than five minutes to signify the beginning of another long day. He groaned and stretched his limbs before getting up from the couch and disabled the alarm. He then walked to the twins' room and peeked inside to make sure they were still asleep.

Happy was scheduled to stop by later on to feed the twins when they woke up, and then Rhodey would cover for Tony while he attended his morning meeting with the members of the board. In the afternoon, however, Tony would have to resort to videoconferencing from his home with the SI executives since Rhodey had been called to attend an emergency meeting with his own bosses, and Happy had to be actively present on the floor for a security audit.

Tony closed the door to the nursery and chuckled to himself as he walked into his and Pepper's bedroom; his situation was turning worthy of a cheap soap opera. Yet, the actual worse aspect about this soap opera was that he was somewhat enjoying it. His little family consisted of a hot-looking sleeping redhead, two strapping-looking-always-hungry kids, a high-ranking official of the Air Force, a former boxer with a James Bond complex, a virtual butler, an overactive dog, and himself: a crazy, almost sobered up, retired superhero.

"Morning, Pepper," he said to the sleeping woman as he bent forward and kissed the top of her head. He remained still for a minute eyeing her form like a hawk, but when she did not respond he sighed and walked away toward the bathroom. After using the facilities and brushing his teeth, he undressed and walked into the shower, his sore muscles welcoming the scalding water. The couch was not very comfortable to sleep on for long periods of time.

As the water helped him wake up, his mind wandered. Any sane person outside looking in would think Tony had the worst situation happening to him, but deep inside he knew better. As difficult as it was managing all his duties, he was content that they at least were worries of the average man. After being kidnapped and kept in a cave for three months, shutting down his company's main source of income without consulting anybody else affected by such a decision, almost dying of palladium toxicity, blowing up his house during his birthday party, crashing the Stark Expo, battling gods and aliens, nearly blowing himself up inside a wormhole, and then fighting super-powered human furnaces, the troubles he now experienced were a blessing in disguise.

The dilemmas he now experienced were aligned with the life of the run-of-the-mill person –something he had not considered himself to be for a long time. He had the consolation that there were many people out there living the same or worse real life situations he was working through every day, and that with the work and patience he was putting into it, his last concern –Pepper, would soon be resolved. Smiling to himself despite his obstacles, he quickly scrubbed himself before shutting down the faucet and exiting the shower room.

He covered the lower half of his body by wrapping a towel around himself, and grabbed a second towel to dry his hair. He then threw the towel he had used for his hair in the hamper and walked out of the bathroom. He walked directly to the closet and went through his wardrobe until he found a pair of comfy jeans. He took them out and tossed them on the chair behind him. He then returned his attention to the closet and took out two shirts. He pressed them against each side of his chest before looking up at Pepper to ask her opinion…but he dropped them both on the floor instead.

"Pepper…" he uttered as he walked towards her, hand on his mouth. He hovered above her and gulped, nervous as heck as he tried to call her attention once more.

"Pepper, can you hear me?"

The redhead was lying on the bed, still unconscious it seemed. However, her right arm was hanging from the edge of the bed, and her left arm was resting on her stomach.

"Pep, are you awake?"

When he received no response, he placed her hanging arm back on the bed. He then picked her up and carefully laid her down closer to the middle of the bed so that her body was not near the edge. He scratched his head as he stared at her, not wanting to leave her for the day due to the development but, knowing he had no real choice in the matter, he sighed deeply. A deal was on the verge of possibly closing today with a medical research company he had contracted to fund its continued efforts in finding alternatives to cure patients with undetectable brain disorders.

Just like what his Pepper seemed to have.

Shaking the thoughts away, he returned to where he had dropped his shirts and picked one at random before getting ready for the day.

xxxXXXxxx

General Rhodes was called to the closest base available in New York for a confidential meeting –well, as confidential as it could be if Tony and Happy knew about its existence. He knew what the meeting was about, and while he had been praying that it did not have to take place, watching the news of Pepper's reappearance in the newscasts told him the shit was close to hitting the fan.

As he arrived to the location, the look of grief on his peers could not have been more forewarning of the string of insults he was surely about to hear. Even though he had no involvement in the leak of the information, he had also not done anything to prevent it from happening –not that he even knew about it until it was out, mind you. To make matters worse, Tony was quickly growing fond of the children Rhodey had tried so hard to keep away from him. He hated the day they encountered that distracted nurse.

"General, the committee is ready for you."

Rhodey nodded toward the Master Sergeant that had been sent to escort him. The door in front of him was opened to show a group of other similar-ranking Generals and the Chief of Staff himself. Rhodey's head was already hurting by just staring at their wild-eyed faces.

"General Rhodes, please sit down," he called to Rhodey, who wasted no time in following the order. "Let's cut to the chase on this. Does Tony Stark know about the tape?"

Rhodey appreciated the no-nonsense approach the Chief of Staff was taking; he too was tired of the trouble this situation was causing to everyone involved. He shook his head to answer the question.

"Fortunately, that has not been brought up."

"For now."

"I beg your pardon, sir?"

"General, your intervention is needed more than ever. I have just been informed of a terrible development."

"What would that be?"

"The tape has disappeared."

Rhodey rubbed his forehead with his right hand, feeling the pressure in his head increase. From all the things he needed right now, chasing after the damned tape was not one of them. "Do we have any suspects? Is there an indication that this act is connected to the news leak?"

"We have a suspicion, yes, but we have not been able to determine how the tape was even lost in the first place right under our noses, knowing what we know. It was heavily guarded and protected inside a steel-room. All that we found was melted metal everywhere. I think you know what this means."

Rhodes narrowed his eyes, memories of a fight they thought was long done returning to him. He hated his position in this; he hated lying to Tony. He had paid with two black eyes, but this punishment alone would not suffice if and when Tony found out the truth.

And truly, to be honest with himself, with the tape gone it was no longer a matter of _if_, but only a matter of _when_. "Will we be monitoring the airwaves for the possible release of the contents of the tape?"

"Yes, General Rhodes, but we all know how effective that turned out to be when the Mandarin stole the broadcasts."

They were in deep shit, indeed.

xxxXXXxxx

While the male executives frowned upon the scene unfolding in front of them, the female executives present at the meeting found the CEO of Stark Industries' current situation quite endearing. Tony Stark had just walked by the screen, dressed in his business casual outfit while holding a baby boy in one arm and a half-full baby bottle in his other hand. He rearranged the baby in his arms before reattaching the bottle to the hungry baby's mouth, feeling relieved to have ended the crying that had started just minutes ago.

"In any case," Tony continued as if he was not holding a child in his arms while leading a business acquisition meeting, "I'd like to relocate your labs to Stark Tower. I think we can provide more powerful equipment in our R&D department than what your lab in Oakland can handle."

Thankfully for Tony's sake, the head of the medical research facility he was trying to merge with his company was a female, and seeing Tony's family man side was encouraging her to relocate her entire staff to the East coast, if for no other reason than for the sake of seeing the former playboy learn the ropes of parenthood.

"We had not considered the possibility of taking my staff and their families away from the only life they've ever known, but the offer is too tempting to pass on, Mr. Stark. Though, I don't know if these incentives are enough to convince my people to move."

"I've figured as much," he said as he took out the bottle from baby boy Stark. He then walked off the screen again and returned to it immediately with a burping cloth on his shoulder as he placed the baby on his chest and began to pat his back. "I can understand the stress of leaving behind everything you once knew and starting anew, I can guarantee you that," Tony said, earning him a few knowingly chuckles from the audience. "Why don't you present the options to them, and then tell me how that went before closing the deal?"

The CEO of New Hope Medical Research facilities turned her attention to her male colleagues, who shrugged at her. They spent plenty of time in New York already, begging for grants for their research. It was not the end of the world for them to permanently move to the city, and it would probably be easier on their own families and themselves to move to a new location if it meant having a stable source of grant funds.

"We will keep you posted, Mr. Stark," the CEO of New Hope finally said.

"Good deal. Anything else we need to discuss?"

"Not on our end, though we wonder if Ms. Potts is doing any better. We certainly hope her illness comes to a quick close."

Tony's discomfort with the topic was blatant on his face. He pursed his lips in that way he did when he was confronted with a conversation he did not wish to have, and turned his head to the left. His eyes betrayed his mind, showing his thoughts were a thousand miles away from his body. With a quick shake of his head he was back in full business-mode, eyes staring directly at the screen in front of him. "I appreciate your concern. Pepper and I will figure this out."

"We wish you both the best, Mr. Stark."

With a quick nod from everyone, the meeting was adjourned and the screen flickered as it turned off. Tony turned around and grabbed the baby bottle from the table next to him before exiting the living room and entering the nursery. Baby girl Stark had already been fed and was fast asleep. Baby boy Stark in his arm was already nodding off to dreamland as well. By the time the baby hit the pillow, he had passed out. Tony knew he had a few hours before it was babysitting time again, so he was going to make the best out of it.

He slowly closed the door shut to the nursery and returned to the living room, he pulled on his tie until it was off his neck. He walked toward his bedroom and walked straight to the closet, hanging the hardly used item on the tie rack. He was about to take off his business jacket when Jarvis chimed in.

"Sir, you are needed downstairs, urgently."

"What is it?" Tony asked, rearranging his collar over his jacket in case he did need to head out.

"Child Protective Services, along with Ms. Potts' family are demanding your presence at the reception of the first floor," the AI said, and if Tony had not known any better, he would have sworn there was a hint of actual concern coming from his virtual butler.

Tony's eyes again betrayed his racing mind. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly in shallow breaths, staring at Pepper the entire time. He licked his lips and took in an even deeper breath, walking up to her and kneeling on the floor next to her form. His hands twisted the bed sheets in between his fingers while a familiar feeling was taking over him.

It was the same feeling he had whenever he was about to jump into the unknown. It was the feeling he had when the initializing sequence of the Mark I had finished and his suit was powered up for the first time. It was the feeling he encountered when his body had been paralyzed by Stane before he had pulled the arc reactor out of him. It was, in fact, the same damned feeling he experienced when his eyes witnessed the destruction of the mother ship of the Chitauri Army before the blurred imaged of Pepper disappeared from his dying screen.

It was the feeling of flight or fight that had only led to total triumph or total failure.

Suddenly, his everyday problems did not seem as common as they had this morning.

_Pepper, I need some strength. I can't continue doing this alone._

"Sir?"

After one more broken exhale, Tony stood up and flared his nose. He turned around and exited the safety of his home, heading downstairs to face the newest enemy he had inadvertently added to his list: the pissed off relatives of his girlfriend.

xxxXXXxxx

"Jarvis, where is Happy?" Tony asked as the elevator reached the first floor, about five minutes after Jarvis had informed him of the visitors.

"Mr. Hogan has been on location since their arrival. He has now just convinced them to take the matter to a private conference room."

"Good. Where are my lawyers?"

"Standing by outside the conference room."

"Alright."

Tony's famous _stern man_ façade was immediately set when he stepped out of the elevator. The news that CPS had arrived at Stark Tower was obvious on everyone's faces as they stared at their CEO walking towards the conference room where they knew the Potts family awaited him. He stopped in front of his two attorneys before staring around him to make sure the looks from his employees were diverted to someone else.

"Talk to me."

"Ms. Potts' relatives have approached CPS to inform them of the situation. Their version is not quite truthful or filled with actual facts, but we're afraid your past actions are going to come into play for this demand."

"What do they want?"

"CPS has been charged with executing a complete evaluation of your ability to provide a safe environment for your children, Mr. Stark. They are willing to take this to court, if need to, to transfer official custody to Mr. and Mrs. Potts."

"They can't do that. These are my kids," Tony retorted, trying to keep his voice down.

"We understand, sir. But the truth is that they have built a very good case. They are arguing that since Ms. Potts' care has been given to you, and having a company to run on the side, you are unfit to care for the children as well."

"That's bullshit!"

"It may be, but the media's reports on their speculations about the circumstances of Ms. Potts' return are not helping us here, and neither is your…colorful past. I think we might need to settle this right now."

"Settle? I TRIED to settle with them! Nothing is stopping them from coming by and seeing them! What else do they want?"

"I think this goes deeper than that, Mr. Stark."

"Fuck," Tony whispered, trying to keep his composure. "Alright, let's roll," he said and entered the conference room.

The look of satisfaction on their faces was sickening to Tony. The last thing he had wanted to do was to fight Pepper's family for anything, knowing that if she were awake the fact would pain her. However, Pepper was not there to help him, and the responsibility for protecting all of them fell on him.

"Greg, Joanne, Jack," Tony greeted the trio as he sat on the table with them. "Nice to see you again."

Neither of them uttered a word to him but stared at the woman sitting next to them. He did not recognize her, but he immediately knew she was the representative for Child Protective Services.

"Mr. Stark, my name is Mary Doe. I'm with CPS and I'd like to ask you some questions."

"Sure, why not," Tony said as he adjusted his jacket.

"I apologize for barging into your workplace like this, unannounced, but I'm quite concerned with some of the information I have been given to work with."

"I understand."

"Very well. I take it by the time it took you to join us that your attorneys may have already briefed you regarding the reason for my visit?" Mary asked, taking out a pen and opening her notepad and jotting down some notes.

"A little, yes," he responded, rubbing his chin with his hand. "I was kind of busy upstairs, putting my kids to bed. I apologize if you had to wait longer than usual. I assure you the service isn't that slow around here."

The look Joanne gave him told him where Pepper had gotten her showstopper stance.

"Yes, well, I can understand how it might be difficult to live where you work, and work where you live. It can certainly be stressful, especially if young children are involved."

Tony bit the inside of his mouth to keep him from screaming. He knew what the woman was doing, and while he was not cheering for where her carefully planned responses and questions were leading the conversation, he had to give her props for being able to make him lose his mind while not needing to raise her voice.

"Not any different than every other American family, Mary. I'm sure your folks had some rough times at some point; we all do."

"Absolutely, but my parents were not: a) superheroes; or, b) comatose."

"If your insinuation just now is any indication of the veracity of the information you are concerned about, I can assure you there is nothing to worry about. I'm not –and haven't been for a while in fact, patrolling the skies, anymore. And, Pepper's medical records do not reflect a comatose state."

The CPS agent was not in the least deterred by Tony's argument. She actually gave him a lopsided grin, trying her best to hold a snicker from popping out. "Your attempts are honorable, Mr. Stark. However, with no other link between the children and you other than your claim that they are yours, the children belong with their mother. Since their mother is indisposed, then these willing blood relatives are next in line," she said as she pointed to the Potts.

"_No_ link? My _claim_? Pepper was…_is_…my girlfriend! Who else would be the father of these kids?"

"Did you, Mr. Stark, perform a paternity test on them before you brought them here?"

Tony pursed his lips for the second time today. He rested his right hand on his knee, under the table, opening and closing it at a fast pace to keep himself from throwing the table at them. He was not sure what was more insulting to him: the fact that they believed Tony was not the father of the twins, or the fact that they were implying that Pepper was some kind of a slut.

"I didn't see a need to do so. I trust Pepper."

"I was afraid of that. Until a formal medical evaluation is made to confirm the paternity, the children must be removed from your care."

"What? Because of a lousy test? You want a test result, let's go to my lab and run one right now!"

"It's not that easy. The test must be performed by an independent party. After the test shows that you have the right to claim custody, an evaluation of your suitability begins. The final report of this evaluation is then sent to a reviewing committee, which will determine whether the children should be returned to you."

"_I'm_ their father," Tony began slamming his fist on the table. "When did that become not enough proof that I'm suitable for the job?"

"You'd be surprised."

Tony pushed the chair away from the table and stood up. He covered his mouth with his hand and paced around the room as he spoke. "Do you need proof? Is-is that what you want? Let's go upstairs and see them. See for yourself that they are fine. They-they are clothed, well-fed, and watched for. I-I got them brand new furniture, and I…I…I read to them…a-a-and and I bathe them…and…I took a class to learn how to take care of them…I can…I can get you the number of the expert…"

"That won't be necessary. Although, you say that you just put them to bed, correct?"

"Right," Tony responded, breathing shallowly.

"Who is there with them now?"

Tony's eyes darted to Happy, and then his mind drifted to the location of Rhodey. He opened his mouth to retort but the look on Mary's face was enough for him to realize she had caught him.

"Pepper…Pepper is with them."

"Has Ms. Potts awaken?"

Tony gulped, opting to shake his head when his voice left him.

"I see. Who is watching Ms. Potts?"

Tony hung his head, scratching the back of his neck with his left hand. A part of him was screaming to lie his ass off and tell them someone was there, but the shock of the situation was messing with his usual quick reactions. In truth, he was never good at lying unless lying got him in a girl's pants.

"If I recall correctly, Mr. Stark, Ms. Potts' doctors recommended that she be placed in a hospice where she would be monitored constantly. Is this correct?"

"Yes."

"And, I was also under the impression that you declined their medical recommendation in favor of bringing Ms. Potts here to be under your care."

"Right."

"So, legally speaking, you are not complying with Ms. Potts will of caring for her by making the appropriate decisions for her."

"Pepper would want to be here."

"Correct, but I believe her proxy request also states that if she were to be in a state where she is no longer able to care for herself for more than…" Mary stopped as she sorted through her papers to find a copy of the executor order, placing it face up on the table and sliding it to Tony's attorneys, "six months," she continued, "then her will refers to finding a way to euthanize her."

"Pepper is not on life support, she's just…"

"Just, what? Mr. Stark? Asleep? Hangover?"

Tony covered his face with his hands, breathing into them before speaking once more. "I'll hire help. I didn't want to because I wanted to be the one there for them, but, if it helps you see that I can handle it…I'll get a nanny for the kids, and a nurse for...for…for Pepper, and…"

"You are welcome to do that AFTER the procedure I described to you is complete."

"How long are we talking about? A week, two?"

"The test results will take two weeks. After that you can initiate the custody request, at which point we will review your situation and monitor your activities for six months. At the end of the six months we will take about three months to write the report, and once the report is sent to the committee, the turnaround time for their decision is 3-6 months."

Tony's eyes widened at the timeline he had just been given. He walked over to the chair he had abandoned and sat on it. He pulled the chair to the table and rested his elbows on it, resting the weight of his face by holding his chin with his clasped hands.

His eyes darted to Joanne, who had the sternest look of the three of them. After everything he had done to accommodate Pepper and their kids, it still was not enough for the law? What else was he supposed to do? Quit his job? He'd do it in a heartbeat if it meant keeping them all with him.

"Is this about money?" he asked as his eyes jumped from Joanne to Greg, and then to Jack. "How much do you want? Do you want me to drop off the kids with you every weekend? Do you want to spend the holidays here with us? Do you want them to go to church with you? Tell me what you want."

"We want to make sure that Virginia has nothing to do with a man like you."

Tony did not immediately respond, opting to close his eyes for a minute before opening them again, turning his attention to Mary who was eyeing him stoically.

"What would happen if I don't let you take them?" he challenged.

"Then your right to claim custody becomes null. You won't be able to request the review."

"What happens to Pepper?"

"Her family now has the right to take you to court for her custody as well seeing you're not following her will. In all fairness, the court might be able to give you a month extension to make your decision before accepting the challenge of her family; mostly because by the time you were aware of Ms. Potts situation, she had already been in known illness for more than six months but you were not yet fully aware of her situation."

"So, you're pretty much saying you're gonna walk out of here today with my kids, and then you're gonna come back and take Pepper, too?"

"In essence, yes."

Tony exchanged looks with his attorneys. This is what they had meant. Their hands were tied, and so were his. "Will I get to see them?"

"I'm afraid not."

"What about Pepper?"

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Stark."

xxxXXXxxx

Happy had just left the living room with the guests that had come for the Stark kids. He had also taken Jarvis with him to give Tony some time alone to kick and scream all he needed to let his anger out. He had at least been given the chance to say goodbye to them and keep their belongings, but it did not ease the pain, at all.

He now sat in a chair in between the two empty cribs, holding onto the baby bottle he had used earlier today. The silence of the room was suffocating, and he could not help to expect a cry from the twins to be heard any minute. However, he would not hear those cries for a long time now and perhaps not ever again.

He hung his head and let his eyes fill with tears, feeling as the most powerful man with no power at all. His defunct suits would not get him out of this situation, and neither would his money nor his influence. If he thought it made any difference, he would beg fucking Nick Fury to disappear him, Pepper and the twins, and forget that he ever had to live through this crock of shit.

Wiping the tears from his eyes he stood up with a sob before sending the bottle to shatter on the wall in front of him. He turned around to face the window of the room, resting his weight on his hands, and his hands on the frame. He took in deep breaths that ended up turning into chocked sobs, digging his fingers into the wood surrounding the window.

He closed his eyes when he heard movement behind him, signaling that either Happy or Rhodey had finally returned home. When he heard doors open and close, he figured they were still giving him time, for which he was grateful. He was not sure he could trust himself to not do something remarkably stupid at the moment, but with them keeping an eye on him, the odds of him fucking up were small…_er_.

His assumptions were proven wrong, however, when his breath caught in his throat a second after hearing her unmistakable voice. Taking his lack of response for a lack of attention, she spoke again in a louder voice.

"Tony?"

He felt his heart stop, and all he could to prevent him from falling was clinging to the window frame as tightly as he could.

* * *

**A/N:** Yeah! She's awake…you love me now? Well, you're gonna hate me again. I've got family visiting me for the next four days, so I won't be able to update until later next week. Unless, of course, your response and need to kill me is so great that I'm left with no option but to have to hide under my car from my guests and type a quick chapter if I can. What do you think? Oh, if you want a spoiler for this story –though I recommend you keep the surprise to yourself, look up "Iron Man 3 deleted scenes." You'll know what the spoiler is when you see it.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

A small cloud covered for an instant the dying bright sky of New York. The rapid change of light turned simple windows into instant mirrors, on which her reflection was clear to him. She was resting her left shoulder on the door frame at the entrance of the nursery, her hair in disarray and her eyes partially closed. Little yawns escaped her, which she tried to hide behind her hand on her mouth.

"Tony, are you even listening to me?" she asked, rubbing her left eye with the ball of her hand.

With every last bit of strength left in his being, and as soon as her image was gone from the window, he slowly turned around in place. With every move of his muscles, he feared that she was just an illusion; he feared that by the time he was facing her, there would be nobody there.

The clashing emotions that pounded him when she was still there once he had completed his half turn, made it almost impossible to breathe. He rested his back on the window, afraid that his legs would sink under him. His eyes darted up and down on her, and back again. He took in a deep breath, feeling the oxygen burn a hole in his lungs only to exhale it in shallow puffs of air.

"Pepper?"

She tilted her head to the side, giving him that endearing look she always had when she was utterly confused. After a couple of more blinks –which she seemed to be needing a lot since her mind felt so foggy, she noticed the red eyes, the tear streaks on his cheeks, and the look of desolation in his eyes. She had seen that stance on him before; it was the clearest indication that he was within an inch of losing the little sanity he had within him. Despite her throbbing head, the confusion in her mind, and the slow reactions of her limbs, she called out to him, pulling him back from the darkness that surrounded him, threatening to eat him whole. She had seen the darkness push him to the brink of extinction before, and every time she had jumped after him, not caring if the darkness tried to make a meal out of her, too.

"Oh, my God! Tony! Are you OK?" she asked as she walked toward him, not caring about her wobbly legs as long as she was on his side in an instant. Tony's legs finally reacted to his commands and he met her halfway on her path to him. He held her head in his hands, slowly combing her hair back into place and stroking her cheeks with his thumbs. His eyes perused her face, absorbing as much of her as he needed to convince them she was truly there. When she lost her footing for a second, he immediately supported her unstable form by allowing her forearms to rest on top of his arms, and holding onto her elbows with his hands.

The tears were coming back with a vengeance, and this time they stung all the way down his face. His extreme reaction only made Pepper's already contorted face turn into one of fright as the possibilities of what the heck had happened while she was asleep that would make Tony Stark look so broken. What if she had slept too long? What if this time she had not been there in time to save him from himself? Had she finally reached the point where there was nothing she could do for him?

_No_, she told herself. The only day she would fail to show him the light in his darkness would be the day she finally died. And, even after death, she hoped the memory of her efforts to keep him afloat in his moments of desperation would be sufficient for him to cling onto the lessons learned throughout their time together. Pepper sought out to make contact with his eyes, and when she finally found them, the conglomerate of emotions emanating from them was overpowering to her.

"Tony, you're scaring me. _What's_ going on?"

Had he gotten himself in trouble again? Had he ran his mouth more than he should have? Was the damage already done? And, more importantly, was the damage irreversible?

"Pepper…" he uttered her name with such intensity it made a shiver run down her spine. Without warning, he pulled her into his arms and surrounded her shoulders with them, almost knocking the wind out of her. His embrace was so strong that she thought her bones would break, or that at the very least, they would pop right out of their sockets.

He rested his face in the nook of her neck, placing small kisses on it and inhaling her natural scent as intensely as a junkie would sniff his drug. He poured all of his fears, relief, doubts and hope into his actions, trying to tell her without words how much he had missed her presence in his life. She was not sure where the need was coming from, but as all the other times he had relied on her to breathe life back into him, she remained quiet and concentrated on responding to his hungry touch. She surrounded his waist with her arms and rested her chin on his shoulder, and waited patiently for his cravings to be satiated.

"Honey," he finally said as the adrenaline of the initial shock drained the air out of his words "You have great timing."

"Great timing?" she questioning him, furrowing her brows and wishing she could face him to use his facial expression to answer her own question, but she fought the impulse to do so. This was not what he needed right now; he was yet to show he was ready to let go. "It's so late, Tony! Did I sleep all day? Why did you let me?"

The relief that had just washed over him was swiftly replaced with sudden panic. His mind replayed her actions and words, quickly dissecting them even further than he just had, as if realizing the puzzle he had so haphazardly put together in his mind regarding her cognitive abilities was incomplete. Was she even aware of her surroundings? Had she not detected the penthouse had been remodeled? Did she not notice the date? Did she not feel the medical devices in the room attached to her body when she woke up? The last musing would be impossible, unless…

_Did I pull them off when I moved her?_

For the life of him he could not remember. He had been too shocked with seeing her arms being in a different position that he had not stopped to consider that she was on the edge of the bed for a reason: proximity to the machines. His devotion to maintaining her well-being had once again blinded him to the small details that could also cause her demise. What if she had been on life support? What if he had unintentionally pulled the plug when he was attempting to better positioning her on their bed?

"Pep, do you know who I am?"

"Not my alarm clock?" she jested with a scoff, mistaking his honest question with the hint of the start of a Tony-like joke, specifically aimed at her complaint about letting her sleep the day away.

"No, baby, I…I'm your boyfriend, right?"

"Last I checked," she responded, raising her eyebrows at his seemingly out-of-the-ordinary inquiry.

The sigh of relief he let go was not lost to her, making her pull back from him to stare at his face. "Are you drunk? You're acting odd_er_ than usual."

"Pepper, you know I haven't gotten drunk since we started dating," he stated, emphasizing his point by shaking his head vigorously.

"That I know of."

"I haven't, and no: I'm not drunk right now. I'm just…overwhelmed."

"With what? Wanna talk about it?"

"Yes, but, first things first," he said decisively before he captured her lips in his. She immediately responded to him, holding onto the fabric of his shirt and pulling him closer, suddenly realizing she could not recall the last time they had kissed.

He surrounded her upper half with his arms, almost being able to completely tie her around in his grip. She had yet to gain her weight back, so he knew that if he tried, he could probably surround her twice over around her famished form.

He intensified the kiss, almost forgetting everything that was happening in his life –_their_ life. He wanted to pick her up and take her to their bed. He wanted to spend the night reminding her how much she meant to him. He wanted to rememorize every inch of her body, over and over again. He wanted to prove to himself that she was still his and to her that he was still hers, and that whatever bullshit had just finished bitch-slapping him in the face would be overcome because his lifeline had now awoken.

Sadly, he knew other matters were more pressing at the time, even though certain parts of his body were telling him to forget about the troubles for now: make love right now; get yelled at later. As strong as the need to have her was, it would be an insult to their relationship to fall prey to his primal needs. He reluctantly broke the kiss and rested his forehead on hers. She kissed the tip of his nose before she pulled back with a smile. Her content face progressively turned into one of confusion once more when her eyes were caught by an unfamiliar scene.

"Tony?"

"Yeah?"

"Why is there a nursery here?"

_Oh, brother._

xxxXXXxxx

The city of New York was also known by its apt description as _the city that never sleeps_. One would correctly deduce by this motto that even in the late hours of the night, the patterns on the busy streets repeated themselves nonstop. The high altitude of the building did not make the 68th floor of Stark Tower immune to the city noises but, at the moment, the silence permeating in said floor made a liar out of Mr. Sinatra, God rest his soul.

The two occupants of the room sat across each other; the former CEO of Stark Industries on the couch, and the current CEO on the coffee table. The somber look on their faces conflicted with the steady hold they had of each other's hands. Pepper stared directly at Tony as the poor man held his breath, both blinking only by necessity. After a long period of silent exchange of glances, she looked away from him and took notice of the obvious renovations done to the penthouse.

The kitchen had been expanded and upgraded, now holding more than the basic appliances needed for a quick stay. The double-ovens and multiple trinkets reflected similar scenes of family homes on the cover of magazines. The two booster seats placed by the bar were yet to be used, but had already been unpacked and assembled to wait their first show of service. The nursery was one of dreams, and had she not known it was created with the sole purpose of holding her own offspring, she would have been gawking over its magnificence.

She looked down at herself and placed her hand on her lower belly, keeping it there as she looked up to stare at Tony once more. She knew she had to say something –anything, as it was cruel to keep him on the edge of his seat. She opened her mouth to attempt to ease his obvious internal conflict, but no words came to her mind. What was she supposed to say to Tony's midnight confession? How was she supposed to react to the flood of memories that hit her after it? What was anyone to do when they overcome death, sleep through the worst of its recovery, and wake up to a new life they did not plan or expect?

She took her hands to her eyes and rubbed them hard; wishing that, with each stroke of her fingers, the memories and new information she had just received would go away, locking themselves inside a hidden corner of her mind she never had to access ever again. When her eyes had opened a few hours ago, she had woken up wondering where Tony was, not even taking into consideration her inability to recall how she had ended up in New York in the first place. Now that Tony had laid it out for her, she realized that in her mind, _yesterday _she had fallen 200 feet to her death, and _today_, she had woken up –little over a year after since last Christmas, to be told her life had been flipped upside down.

She was now the source of front page news for the scandalous media. She was in hiatus from her position as CEO of Stark Industries due to her delicate condition. She had been _vacationing_ in Mexico for six months before making a stop at a military base on her way to a hospital until Tony brought her here. And, if that was not enough, she had fallen asleep an average woman and had woken up a new mom.

A mom, to twins.

A mom to Tony Stark's twins.

A mom to _their_ kids.

Such was the life of those close to Tony Motherfucking Stark. Then again, motherfucking was perhaps not the best word to use right now.

Her long silence worried him. He feared she was counting and listing the ways he had failed them all, ready to dish them out at any second. He feared she was waiting for the punch line of the awful joke he had just told –though it was nothing but the truth. He feared she would blame him for everything and walk away forever. But, above all, he feared he would not be able to keep her from breaking apart as he had allowed it to happen to himself.

"Pepper, are you…? I mean, do you want me to…? I could just…"

She closed her eyes and Tony was on the couch with her in a second. He held her face in his hands, shaking her lightly, calling her name, and trying to focus her eyes on his.

"Please, don't fall asleep again. I don't know if I can wake you again. Hell! I don't even know how you woke up in the first place!"

Pepper shook her head, grabbing his hands and pulling them off her face, opening her eyes as she did so. "I'm not falling asleep. I'm just…I don't know what to say."

"That'd never stopped me before," he said, trying his best to remove the sad look from her face.

"I…Oh, God! I'm sorry, Tony. I'm so, so, sorry."

Tony's head cocked back. "Are you serious? _You're_ sorry? What the hell are you sorry for, Pep?"

"Everything! I was so stupid, trusting Maya…and then, Aldrich, I should've let him kill me…and, and then…my family, I can't believe they did this to you! I can't believe I let you go through this alone!"

"_Let_ me? Pepper, you were passed out! Yeah, it was…hard, it –well, it _blew_! But, you're back now, and we can start over. I –we, we still have each other. And, I'm not giving up on us, Honey; and I hope you're not giving up, either."

Pepper shook her head, blinking away the tears and resting her face on his chest. He held her in place with his arms, resting his chin on her head as she cried. He slowly switched their sitting positions so that she was not stretching herself at an awkward angle. They remained in the other's arms for a long moment until Pepper's surprised yelp made him look down at her.

She began pulling at the buttons on his shirt, patting his chest desperately. At first he was not sure what she was doing until her movement stopped when she found the scar. She traced it with her fingers as she bit her bottom lip. She looked up to him with a load of questions visible on her face.

"Oh, yeah; forgot to tell you about that."

"How? When? Why?"

"I thought about it after you…after I thought…you know. I got tired of it; the constant danger I put you through. Even with all my little tools, I still wasn't able to hold your hand when you needed me to. I told you before, Pepper. I'm never putting you in that situation again. My suits are gone; even S.H.I.E.L.D. is off my ass."

Pepper searched his eyes for a hint of half-truth but found none. She knew how important his suits were to him. She knew, first hand, how much time and effort he placed in improving his tech every day. She never thought she'd see the day he would just drop everything for her. It wasn't that she did not appreciate it, but the decision had been made for him when his hand stopped inches from hers.

"Tony, that's…it's just too much. The last thing I wanted was for you to feel you had to give up that part of your life for me."

Tony chuckled at her, holding her head up by her chin. "Don't be silly, Pepper. _You_ are my life."

Pepper pressed the side of her face to his exposed chest, rubbing against his last battle scar. If he could survive living in hell and then coming out of it like a champ, so would she. It was the least she could do for him, for herself, for their future, and –now, for their children.

"Tony?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell me about the kids."

xxxXXXxxx

Tony sat in the driver's seat of one of his many sports vehicles, parked at the curb in front of the Potts residence. Last night, after exchanging vague information with Pepper regarding the meeting that had taken place at SI earlier in the day, she had demanded to pay a visit to her family as soon as possible today. Tony had not wanted to tell on her parents, but Jarvis, Happy and Tony's attorneys had not been as committed to keep the Potts from the bomb that was befalling them right now.

Pepper and Tony had driven to their home over an hour ago, and since their arrival, Pepper had been inside the home. He could not hear or see anything, but the look in her eyes when she watched the video Jarvis showed her of the meeting and hearing how Tony had been treated had reminded him why he avoided pissing her off.

He knew that she could not take back the kids with her today due to CPS stating they now had to evaluate Pepper too to make sure no permanent damage was sustained that would prevent her from parenting, but that did not mean they were not going to have the last laugh. The broken soul of Tony Stark was sewing itself back together now that Pepper was by his side.

_You did what you had to do, Tony. I'm proud of you_, she had told him when he apologized for not fighting harder for their kids. Pepper knew these protocols existed, and even if Tony had been able to pull strings, she knew the negative consequences of abusing their influence were not what they needed to help their case in the long run. In fact, Tony's lack of regard for the laws was what had made it easier for her parents to win the first round.

After looking at the home for signs of Pepper's presence, he realized she was probably just in Stage 1 of Pissed-off Pepper Mode: Listing all the things they had done wrong. He could not help to pray to all the gods in the world and thanked them that, for once, he was not on the receiving end of his girlfriend's wrath.

His girlfriend and, hopefully, soon-to-be wife.

xxxXXXxxx

"Are you out of your mind? I'd expect this from mom and dad, but you, Jack? Did you suddenly forget Tony got you the recommendation you needed to get that internship, huh?"

"Ginny, I…"

"Don't you _Ginny_, me!" she said, poking her brother's chest with her index finger. "You should be ashamed of yourself! When has Tony ever done anything to hurt you?!"

"Sweetheart, you must understand…" Greg began to try and make his case, but immediately shut up when Pepper narrowed her eyes at him.

"No, Daddy, YOU must understand! Tony was doing the best he could! Didn't you think that maybe you could HELP him fix whatever you thought was wrong, instead of HURTING him? How could you possibly think that taking away the babies would help anyone? You know damn well that Tony would NEVER hurt them! How would _you_ feel if I took them away from you? How would you feel if I told you I didn't _think_ you were _fit_ to be a grandpa?"

"It's not the same, Virginia," Joanne jumped in to defend her husband. "That man is crazy! He builds god-knows-what in his basement! He spends his time blowing up buildings and creating bombs! He threatened a terrorist, for God's sake! Did you forget how you ended up practically dead? It was HIS fault!"

"It wasn't anyone's fault, mother. If Tony hadn't used his weapons and bombs, then the Mandarin would still be on the loose, killing innocent people and blowing up some more! If someone else had to die so the rest could live, so be it."

"I didn't raise you to be so blind. Why do you defend him? Why don't you believe he can do any wrong? How can you take his side over your own flesh and blood?"

"I never said he's perfect, but he's not the terrible human being you portray him to be. You never even took the time to know him, but wasted none to kick him when he was down. I hope you're happy, mother. You just proved to me that Tony has a bigger heart and soul than my own kin."

Joanne's attempt at slapping Pepper was stopped by her quick reaction. Pepper held her mother's wrist with a little bit too much force, staring deeply into her mother's eyes as she spoke. "I'm not a little girl anymore, mom. You can't just fix things by leaving me beat up on the floor, now. And, if you ever, EVER slap Tony again, I'll make sure it's the last time you do so."

"Are you threatening me, Virginia Potts? Your own mother? Is that what you've learned from that man?"

"I'm just returning the favor, mom."

Pepper let go of her mother's arm before staring at her father with the same look of disgust she had just given Joanne. "And, for the record, if Tony ever asks me to marry him, you can rest assure I'll be his wife with or _without_ your blessing."

She gave one last look at the three of them before turning around and headed to the door, opening it wide. She peeked outside and saw her ride still patiently waiting for her, encouraging her to take a few more seconds to make the reason for her visit even clearer than she had already made it. "Enjoy your grandkids for now, because if you keep it up as you have now, it will be _you_ who never sees them again."

* * *

**A/N:** Holey rusted metal, Batman! The response to the last chapter was so overwhelming, I just had to find a way to give you at least one more chapter that did not have a cliffy. I hope this fix gets you through the next few days as my guests continue to enjoy their time here. There are NO words to thank you all for your support and words of encouragement. If it wasn't for every single one of your who took the time to read and/or review, I'd never summed up the courage to give the impression to my in-laws that my stomach was out of whack, constantly excusing myself to the bathroom and mysteriously taking my laptop with me. I think that at this point they might suspect I'm watching porn in the restroom or something worse. It will be, however, worth every single questioning look I will get until they leave. I hope to see your continued interest reflected in your favorite, views and reviews throughout the life of this story. I very much hope you enjoyed this chapter, and that I see you again soon.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8  
**

_"In other news, former CEO of Stark Industries, Virginia Potts, is reported to have recovered consciousness after a long comatose period followed by a life-threatening incident during the altercation with the late Aldrich Killian, the mastermind behind the Mandarin attacks last year. According to an anonymous source close to the company, Potts has been seen leaving Stark Tower on a handful of occasions, but always in the company of beau, SI CEO, Tony Stark. No official statement has been released regarding the health status of Potts, but we speculate it is due to the surprise seizing of the children who are presumed to be fathered by Stark_

_ "A spokesperson informed the associated press via a written official statement that Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts are going through a 'rough period of mental, physical and emotional recovery caused by the unfortunate situations surrounding them.' In addition, SI's spokesperson also stated that as difficult as it was to turn in the children to Child Protective Services, Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts 'understand the organization's protocols,' and have been 'dutifully complying with its directions.'_

_ "The rumors that Stark is not the father of the children are expected to be dissipated in two weeks when paternity test results ordered by CPS are completed. If the paternity test confirms the children are indeed the offspring of Stark, the Board of Directors is in for a surprise. With heirs on the table now, the partnership between investors, top executives and Tony Stark will have to be reexamined and renegotiated. As opposed to the company's founder –the late Howard Stark, the current CEO of SI inherited the successful company with no family clause addendum._

_ "Known for his devil-may-care attitude, Tony Stark's lack of inclusion of the family clause had been no surprise to anyone. However, with recent developments, it is clear that Stark's priorities have changed, and thus the future of the company is once more at stake –a situation the company had not experienced since the passing of its founder."_

The news anchor's face returned to the screen after the reel of stock photos of Tony, Pepper, Howard and SI in general that had played during the narration, ended. The anchor then introduced the news channel's Entertainment Section reporter to continue the story she had just begun. The sound of the television was placed on mute by one of the men who had been watching the report with keen interest.

"I see the first part of your test has been a success. Well done, future partner," said man uttered as he returned his attention to his guest.

"It was rather easy to accomplish," the guest said with a bored tone, as if the test had been no challenge at all. "The media is always looking for dirt, and my soldiers are looking to please."

"Great combination."

"Indeed, it is."

"I gotta give it to you! How you managed to involve her family is astonishing! Who would've thought they'd suddenly turn on both of them?"

"Like I said, my _soldiers_ are always willing to please."

"Ah!" The other man said with an understanding tone. "Anonymity, indeed. When should I expect to see the final part of the test completed?"

"When they least needed it to occur."

xxxXXXxxx

_"Thank you, Laura! Yes, the Stark-Potts drama continues, ladies and gentlemen! What a source of entertainment they are!"_ The top reporter of the Entertainment Section of the news channel uttered with an excited tone. Tony and Pepper sat on the couch in the living room of Stark Tower, eating take out and shaking their heads every now and then at the lame version of _The People's Court_ their life was to the rest of the world.

"We should issue a statement, Tony," the redhead recommended after washing down a bite of her noodles with sweet tea. "Otherwise, they can ruin the renegotiation of the contract terms. As much as I hate the stupid media, they have a point."

Tony wiped the side of his mouth with his hand, finding a small piece of chicken attached to the latter. He eyed the crumb for a second before shrugging and licking it off its hand. "I wouldn't worry about it, Pep. The people who need to know what happened to you already got the memo. As long as they know the truth, who gives a damn about what a hyped-up bitch who didn't make it to Liberal Arts School thinks," Tony said as he lazily pointed his finger at the image of the woman with pink hair on the screen.

_ "For this reason," _the reporter continued her speculations_, "We've made a list of the possible men Pepper Potts may have cheated on Tony Stark with."_

Tony almost spat out his drink but was able to swallow it down at the last minute before nearly busting a gut with laughter.

"Seriously?" he uttered, not at all worried about the likelihood of Pepper seeing another guy on the side. It was not that he was naïve about the possibility, but he was certain that after so many years of being together –professionally, friendly and now intimately, the idea of either of them throwing their relationship down the dirtiest toilet by infidelity seemed rather senseless to even consider conceivable.

Pepper sighed deeply, having similar thoughts as Tony's, but still disgusted and uncomfortable with the entire situation. Yes; Tony had been known for many years for disposing of women as quickly as babies dispose of diapers –and sometimes in the same dirty condition as well, but the trust he had earned from her would not allow her to doubt his dedication to their bond. He had said it himself, plenty of times before, to anyone that challenged the honesty of their connection: _I am in a happy, deeply committed relationship. Pepper is the only person I need in the world._

The tough hit that her hard-earned, successful career was taking, however, did strike a chord within her. She feared nothing she could do in the future would ever repair the extensive damage already received. Many times before, Tony had risen up from the ashes as the phoenix he was, but no box of scraps in any cave was going to undo the harm her professional and personal reputation was receiving every day since she had woken up.

She stared at the contents of her takeout box, still almost completely untouched as she placed it back on the table. She then covered her face with her hands, suddenly losing her appetite. The moment Pepper had placed her box of noodles on the table, Tony's laughter stopped; he knew what was crossing her mind. He then proceeded to place his own cup on the table and picked up Pepper's own.

"Oh, no, Pepper! You're finishing that!" He demanded of her as he grabbed the box with one hand and a pair of chopsticks with the other. "You need to put on some weight, Potts. Yesterday, I was worried a wind gust was going to take you to Oz! Come on, open up."

Pepper lowered her hands to face him, but did not open her mouth to receive the bite Tony was offering her, dreading she would throw up on his lap with how sick the media was making her feel. Her eyes drifted to the television screen in front of her, hoping that with the blink of an eye her living nightmare would disappear.

"This is so stupid! I'm never getting my kids back with this press!"

Tony's shoulders slumped at her comment, he too missing the presence of their children. He put down the cup and chopsticks back on the table, knowing that Pepper was not going to eat anything until her fears were placated.

"Honey, don't think that way. One way or another, we're getting our kids back."

The redhead scoffed at his words, pointing at the images appearing on the screen. "They're not _your_ kids, Tony, remember? They are…" she hesitated as she picked a random name from the list displaying on the newscast. "Happy's…Wait, what?"

Tony faced the screen at the moment a picture of Happy with Pepper was shown on screen. Happy was one of the men on the infamous list the pink-haired reporter had just mentioned, among other members of Stark Industries.

"Happy? Impossible! I checked and neither of my kids is missing a pinky finger."

"TONY!"

"Sorry! Couldn't help it," Tony said with a smug smile, not truly feeling sorry for taking another jab at his slightly mutilated friend. "Anyway, they'll shut up when the tests come around."

"But what if they don't?"

"If they don't…then…well, my lawyers are gonna have to prove their retainer fee is worth it."

"This is just…God! All those years I've spent building relationships and networking and making a name for myself…gone! Just like that! There is no one left that will ever trust me ever again! CPS is never going to trust me with my own kids!"

"I trust you," Tony said, immediately after her small rant ended. "I trust you with my life, Pepper."

Pepper swallowed hard, feeling tears forming in her eyes. The quick flash of an orange glow in her eyes was not lost to Tony, but he shook his head, blaming the light playing tricks on him. The glow was gone as quick as it had appeared, leaving behind the saddened blue eyes that made his soul twist with anger at the thought of something or someone hurting his Girl Friday.

"It'll be alright, Pep," he said to her, stroking her cheek with his hand. "It'll work itself out in the end. But, for now, you've got eat, sweetheart. I don't think I can stand you passing out on me again," he said, recalling how Pepper had briefly lost consciousness yesterday, scaring the living crap out of him.

Pepper nodded before picking up her box of food and chopsticks once more. The couple ate in silence as the next candidate in line was shown on the screen. Said candidate walked in at the same time his name was displayed in big block letters, making him stop in his tracks.

"What the _fuck_ is that?" he irritably asked from the door.

Tony and Pepper turned to face General Rhodes, whose eyes were wide and his mouth hung as he read the description of his potential affair with Pepper Potts. He shook his head as he headed to the couch, dropping his body on it and rubbing his forehead with his hand.

"Are you kidding me with that?" Rhodes asked as he pointed to the screen.

"Apparently not," Pepper responded, looking as upset as Rhodey. "Do you want some Chinese? There's another box on the counter."

"Nah, thanks, Pepper," he said, waving off the offer. "I'm actually here to say goodbye. I think it's time I move out."

"What? Why?" Pepper asked, tilting her head to the side and already missing the company of the other man who she trusted as much as she trusted Tony.

"I think Tony's got a grip on himself…or, as much of a grip as he's ever gonna have."

"Hey!" Tony began, trying to come up with a retort. Pepper and Rhodey stared at him expectantly before the former playboy shrugged. "Yeah…well, alright," Tony said, conceding to Rhodey's comment. "You're gonna be missed, Rhodey. Jarvis liked his morning walks."

"And chewing on my shoes."

"He never did that to my shoes before. I think he's got a thing for you."

"I'm sure," the General said dismissively. "I've already packed up; I'm heading out right now. Thank you for letting me stay," he said as he stood up, a movement mirrored by Tony and Pepper. Pepper hugged Rhodey and thanked him for his help when Tony needed him, and Tony offered his hand to Rhodes. Rhodey took Tony's hand and nodded his goodbye to his friend.

"It's gonna be quieter here without you, Rhodey. You know you can stay as long as you want," Pepper insisted.

"Yeah, I know. But I'm needed for a mission that'll keep me traveling for a while. No sense in using up space around here."

"You're always welcome, Rhodey," Pepper said with a smile on her face. She was truly going to miss Rhodey; ever since she found out that he had moved land and sea to get to her and bring her back, she was eternally indebted to him. She knew Tony would have done the same for her, but the fact of the matter was that it had been Rhodey who had saved her life this time around; a debt that Pepper felt she would never be able to entirely repay the military man.

"I know, Pepper," he said, nodding to her in silent understanding of the words she left unspoken. Tony cleared his throat and grabbed Pepper's hand, trying his best to break the moment that he had been left out of. The small pang of jealousy that had been sparked only a handful of times –particularly with Agent Coulson, returned to him even though his rational side knew there was nothing to worry about. He knew Pepper would not cheat on him as the media implied, but that did not mean he would not, every now and then, give in to the possessiveness he was known for.

"Anyway," Rhodey began, "I'll see you guys around. If you need me as a witness with CPS, give me a call and I'll stop by."

"Thank you," the couple said in unison as they watched the General walk away and disappear behind the entrance doors. By the time Pepper and Tony returned their attention to the television, the news broadcast had ended, successfully removing their story from the public view for now.

Knowing she could not eat any more even if she wanted to, Pepper turned to face Tony as he picked up the mess left behind. Her eyes followed him as he cleaned up after the both of them, growing in her the feeling of bitter sweetness that came from watching in action the caring side of the former playboy only a handful of people had the privilege of witnessing. Everyone told him he was lucky to have her, but in moments like this she knew it was she who was lucky to have him.

She waited until he was done with his task before calling out to him. "Tony?"

His head turned to face her, his raised eyebrows asking the unspoken question.

"I love you," she said with a wide smile on her face. Tony's even bigger smile made itself present with her declaration. It did not matter how long ago they had told each other for the first time that their initial attraction had turned into love, the confession always made his heart swell with joy. He walked toward her and surrounded her with his arms, leaning the side of his face on hers.

"I love you, too, Pepper."

By the time Tony grasped what was occurring between them, Pepper had already led them to their room and had locked the door behind them.

xxxXXXxxx

The scratching on the door startled the couple on the bed. After their activities had ended, they had both passed out for a much-needed nap, forgetting for an instant the pressure they were under. Tony was the first one to wake up and turned on the small light on the side of his bed. He picked up the alarm clock and blinked a few times until the red numbers on the device were clear: it read 9:16 P.M.

_Dammit, I forgot to walk Jarvis, again._

Hearing Pepper struggle to get up from bed, he turned around and pulled her back down, kissing her lips and whispering in her ear.

"Stay here, baby. I'll walk him. I'll be back soon, OK?"

"But, Tony…"

"But nothing. If you get up from this bed it'd better be to eat, woman."

"Fine," she said, giving up a useless fight. With a final nod, Tony picked up his clothes from the floor as he headed to the door to find Jarvis waiting for him. Jarvis followed him as he dressed up, and by the time Tony had reached the elevator, he was fully clothed and holding a couple of doggy bags in his hand.

"J, please remind Pepper to eat something for dinner."

"Will do, sir."

"Jarvis and I will be back in an hour or so."

"Very well."

The elevator doors closed and the artifact began its trek to the first floor. Tony did not even bother to put a leash on Jarvis when he walked him out, trusting the trained animal to respond to his commands. When the elevator doors opened again, Tony was not surprised to see that, other than some maintenance and security employees, the building was almost empty.

The CEO and his dog walked to the entrance doors, waving at the guards standing by it as they exited the building. Tony had a small dog park built behind the building for Jarvis to use, but its path was hidden behind a complex maze of glass doors, walls, and parked cars, and surrounded by monitored and secured fences to guarantee its access was limited to only Pepper, Tony, Happy or Rhodey.

As soon as they both arrived to the dog park, Jarvis left its owner to do his business while Tony took out his phone. He searched for the number he was looking for and dialed. After a couple of rings, the line was finally picked up by Happy Hogan, who was still on duty somewhere inside the tower.

"Hey, Hogan, where are we on that favor you're doing for me?"

_"I've narrowed it down to three options, Boss. When do you want to see them?"_

"Send me the pictures as an attachment in an encrypted file to my secure server."

Happy groaned on the other end of the line. _"Tony, I've got no idea what you just said."_

"Right…uhm…just, tell Jarvis to do it for you."

_"To do what? The thing you just asked me to do that I don't know how to do?"_

"That's right."

_"And how the hell do you want me to ask him if I already forgot what you said?"_

Tony closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just tell him you're sending me a file Pepper can't see. He'll know what to do."

_"Alright. This has been very hard to do with her around, Tony. You better not fuck it up."_

"I don't intend to."

Happy sighed on his end of the line. _"You also intended to avoid an accounting meeting by setting off the fire alarm."_

"It's not the same! And, that was years ago! I've grown up!"

_"Suuuure…Anyway, I'll send you the pictures tonight."_

"OK."

_"Oh, and Tony?"_

"Yeah?"

_"Dennis Rodman called. He said he wants his kids back."_

"Fuck you," Tony said before ending the call and ignoring the chuckle that had escaped his friend's mouth.

* * *

**A/N:** Rather uneventful chapter –or at least compared to the others. I'm gonna give a few moments of peace to our favorite couple before the second round of drama knocks at their door. Get ready, peeps: the worst is yet to come. As always, thank you for reading and reviewing: it is always encouraging to hear what you have to say; makes me type faster Oh! And thank you to those who found some typos in the previous chapter. They're now fixed ^_^


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

It was not until a week after his conversation with Happy that Tony was able to finally peruse the file he had been sent that night he and Hogan spoke about the status of their hidden plans. With Pepper around the close living quarters, and with his inability to let her out in the world by herself just yet, it had been rather difficult to find the time and place where he was not in danger of being caught in the act.

Today, however, CPS had arrived unannounced at the Tower to speak with Pepper, by herself, to discuss topics that pertained to the mother of the children, only. Tony knew CPS was aiming to get its 15 minutes of fame as everyone else involved in the case was, but he was confident Pepper could handle the pressure on her own.

Knowing that Happy would page him the moment the meeting was over to warn him if Pepper was on her way back to home, he sat in front of his computer screen, with Jarvis at his feet and J gathering additional information of the items he was comparing to finalize his purchase.

"What do you think about ring #3, J?"

"I believe it might be a bit ostentatious for Miss Potts' taste."

"Really? But, it's the biggest one."

"That's in fact my point, sir. As opposed to you, Miss Potts does not care for size."

"I guess she doesn't. Hey, wait a minute! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Perhaps, Miss Potts would be happy with ring #1?"

Tony disregarded Jarvis's size comment and pulled up a larger image of the ring in question. He had to admit that Happy had some good taste in jewelry, but even narrowing it down to three was too much for the somewhat insecure CEO. When it came to business matters, Tony was as decisive as the next guy. However, when it came to matters of the heart, Tony sometimes had a difficult time finding the perfect token of appreciation for his girlfriend.

"I don't know, J. What if she hates it like the bunny I got her for Christmas?"

"Then, perhaps this time around, sir, you should take my input more seriously. I do recall pointing out that the rabbit was not going to be well received."

"Psh, you know-it-all."

"I thought that was your title, sir," the AI responded without missing a beat.

"Why does everyone give me lip, around here?" Tony asked as his hands flew up in the air.

"I wouldn't have the slightest," the AI replied with what Tony would describe as a tone as sarcastic as a machine could replicate. Tony slapped his forehead three times with his palm as if trying to put his thoughts in order.

"What do you think, Jarvis? Ring #1 or ring #2?" he asked his canine companion, looking down at him as if expecting the animal to suddenly reveal it was an expert in wedding proposals. When Jarvis's response was to yawn loudly, Tony scoffed and poked his closed eyes with his fingers.

"This can be this hard. It's just a ring! It's the thought that matters, and by the thought I mean she saying 'yes.' Oh, God! What if she says 'no?' What are the odds of that?"

"There is a 12.75% chance her response could be negative, sir."

"It was a rhetorical question, J!"

"Maybe a feminine opinion is needed. Would you like me to patch you through a female friend?"

"That's sounds helpful," Tony said as he pulled up his list of contacts on the computer screen. He scrolled down the list a few times until he realized that, other than Pepper, he _had_ no other female friends. The names of women on the list belonged to his one-time adventures from back in his playboy days, and he doubted any of them would be of assistance. "Or, actually, _not_ helpful at all," Tony amended his previous statement. "I can't call any of these women!"

"What about Ms. Romanoff?"

"The Black Widow? Are you kidding me? She's as feminine as Banner. _BANNER_! Call Banner!"

"As you wish."

Tony waited as the screen in front of him showed the face of Bruce, glasses half down the bridge of his nose as he narrowed his eyes at the screen. "Please tell me you're not calling me for another therapy session."

"No!" Tony retorted, insulted by the insinuation. However, as he thought about it, meeting up with the green, mean machine would certainly be in order soon. "Maybe…somewhat…I just want to ask you a question."

"No, Tony; I'm not the father of your children."

"What?"

Bruce veered his head to the side so that the T.V. screen behind him was visible via the phone cam. Tony leaned closer to his own screen and read the description on the artifact.

"What the hell? They're on the _third_ list, now?"

"They sure are," Bruce responded as his face returned to the screen. "I was dropped this morning after I didn't get enough votes."

"V-votes?"

"Oh! Haven't you heard? The baby-daddy status poll is as famous as _American Idol_. I texted in my vote last night for Dennis Rodman."

"He's _still_ on the list?!"

"At the lead. Anyway, what's the matter?"

Tony shook his head, almost in disbelief at the lengths some people would go to make a buck. "I need your opinion on something. I'm sending you the file right now."

"OK," the doctor said before his eyes widened when the file was opened on his screen. "Are you serious?"

"Yup."

"When are you gonna ask her?"

"This weekend, if I can decide on a ring today."

"This weekend? That's in 24 hours, Tony. Are you sure you're ready to give up your freedom?" the doctor joked with him, analyzing each ring with care.

"A little late to dwell on that. What do you think?"

"I think the first one is the best. Pepper's not into flashy items –or mutated rabbits."

"Why does everyone keep fixating on that?"

"Well…" Bruce said as he shrugged, not believing an explanation was needed. "Anyway. The first ring is my suggestion. Have you thought about how you're going to do it, you know, so that she doesn't say 'no'?"

Tony narrowed his eyes at the smiling Bruce, knowing that he was just being teased but not liking the notion of Pepper declining his proposal, either way. "She's not gonna say 'no'."

"Well, if she does, there's a long list of guys waiting in line…DAMMIT!" Bruce suddenly yelled, slamming his fist on the table.

"What? What is it?"

"Carrot Top was just voted off the list."

Tony blinked several times in rapid succession as he leaned forward and ended the call, almost missing the amused look of Bruce on the other end of the screen.

"Ring #1 it is."

xxxXXXxxx

"I don't think this is a good idea, Tony," Pepper told him as she finished up putting on makeup. The color was returning to her face but she still needed some blush to look alive. She was not certain why Tony had suggested leaving the tower for date night, but she figured he was getting tired of being locked up inside for so long. Tony was never one to stay put in one place for a long time, but with the way things had panned out for them, he had been left with no option than to turn on the sedentary setting in his life.

"It'll do us some good, Pepper. It's a crime to keep such a hot couple behind walls," Tony insisted, trying his best not to let his nervousness show. Happy had dropped off the ring a few hours ago, and Tony had decided that it was best to just get on with it. He wanted to make sure the engagement announcement was made before the results of the paternity test were official so that Pepper did not have to suffer with the media speculating that if the kids had eventually turned out to be not his, he would have never asked her to marry him.

"If you think so, but I'm still uncomfortable walking out there. Everyone stares at me."

"They just stare because you're gorgeous."

Pepper could not hold back a snicker. Years ago a comment like that would have made her roll her eyes at her sexually harassing boss, but today, it made her stomach tingle at her loving boyfriend.

"Not everyone is blindly in love with me, Tony."

"According to the news, yes they are. Although, I'm sad to report that Dennis Rodman didn't make the cut for the 5th list."

"Really? Damn! Now I owe Happy $20."

"What?" Tony asked, wanting to laugh but holding it back until he made sure it was OK with Pepper.

"Hey! Might as well make some money out of my misery, right?"

Tony visibly relaxed, happy that Pepper was slowly coming around. "Yeah, well…in that case, Bruce owes me $50."

The couple laughed and nodded in agreement with their antics as they headed out their bedroom and toward the elevator doors. Happy had taken Jarvis with him to watch him while they were out, knowing what Tony's plan was: he was to take Pepper out to dinner at a small restaurant a few blocks from the tower; then they would hail a cab to take them to Times Square where the screens surrounding the famous landmark would display Tony's question to Pepper in front of the world.

Tony pulled the collar of his shirt as the elevator headed downstairs. Pepper eyed him suspiciously and he cleared his throat. "It's nothing. I just have $100 on Mick Jagger going on to the next round."

Pepper shook her head and stared at the numbers as they blinked on and off. By the time they hit the first floor, Tony felt as sick as when he was about to jump off the plane to land on the front stage of the Stark Expo.

_ Keep it together, Stark. Don't mess it up._

He led Pepper down the hall and out of the building, walking hand-in-hand toward the café. He was not sure why Steve had recommended it so many times since all Tony could think of when he thought about the restaurant was that the waitress' uniforms made them look like bottles of mustard. Pepper's confidence was slowly returning when she noticed that the people around them were not staring at her as viciously as they had when CPS had taken away her kids.

Before they knew it, their feet had taken them to the café where they were immediately seated in a booth at the end of the restaurant. A few of the patrons stole quick glances at the couple, but Tony figured it was just because they were dressed up in casual clothes and were walking around with no bodyguards, cameras, or anything else that would bring attention to themselves. If someone who did not know who they were saw them, they'd be labeled as another couple enjoying the last vestiges of the weekend.

"So, Pep, what are you ordering?"

"I think I want a burger."

"Really?"

"Yes, I'm rather hungry."

"Then, make it two!" he said, calling the waitress to their table. After ordering for the both of them, Tony took a deep sigh as he analyzed the location. "I don't see what the deal with this place is. I've seen better."

"You're just saying that because it was Steve who suggested we stopped by."

"You mean Cap?"

"Steve."

"You mean Rogers?"

"S.T.E.V.E. _Steve_."

"Why do you insist in calling these guys by their first names?"

"Why do you insist in getting jealous when I do?"

"Jealous? There's no such word in my vocabulary."

"Really? I think there is; right next to paranoid and eccentric."

"Whatever," he said dismissively. "Anyway, I've been thinking. Well, since, you know…it's been a while and, uhm, it's overdue…very overdue, if you think about it..."

Pepper gave Tony a lopsided smile, waiting patiently for his fumbling words to make some sense.

"What I'm trying to say is…well, ask, is that…uhm, have you…had you…_thought_ about names for the kids?"

Pepper's surprise was clear on her face. Other than seeing pictures of the kids and Tony relaying to her stories about their short time together, they had not talked about them as much as one would expect. The reason behind it, however, was that whenever the topic of the children was brought up, it made Pepper sad to be reminded that she was yet to meet her children in person, and that she had almost lost them when she was out in the sea.

"I actually haven't. What about you?"

"Well, I…you know…been reading some stuff online. Just browsing; nothing official."

"Sure. So the book of children's names that I found under the bed is nothing official?"

"I just bought that to serve as a paper weight."

"Right. Just tell me, Tony."

Tony scratched his head, exhaling and tapping his foot on the floor the way he always did when he was nervous that something he had thoroughly planned would not go his way. Pepper smiled and leaned forward, grabbing his hand with one of hers, and held his cheek with the other. "Come on, Tony. I promise I'll consider them."

Tony nodded and silently thanked her for knowing him so well. "OK, alright. Uhm…for our boy, I was thinking Robert."

"Robert? OK, I like that. And for our girl?"

"Gwyneth."

"Gwyneth?"

"Yeah."

"Gwyneth?"

"Right."

"Why that name?"

"It's uhm…well, the only name that didn't remind me of anyone, I'd…well, you know."

Pepper mouthed an "oh!" in understanding and nodded as she thought about the suggested names. _Robert Stark_ sounded perfect, and even though she was not so sure about _Gwyneth Stark_, she could learn to live with it. It was clear to her that Tony was set on the names already, or he had never brought it up first. "I think I like them."

"You do?" Tony asked, almost not able to contain his excitement. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Thanks, Pepper!" he said as he leaned forward and towered over the small table to kiss her. Pepper returned the kiss but was forced to break it when the waitress returned with their order. For the next hour, Pepper and Tony ate, talked, joked and enjoyed the company of the other, planning for their future, and feeling readier than ever to put on their parent caps.

xxxXXXxxx

"I'm telling you, Pepper, they were just staring at your pretty face," Tony insisted as they exited the restaurant and called a cab. The staring had increased throughout dinner and was so blatant towards the end that Tony had almost gotten into a fight with a guy who had asked Pepper when her legs opened.

"It was such a lame pick-up line, too," Tony continued. "Just forget about them, OK?"

"I guess. Where are we going to, anyway?"

"I thought we'd walk around Time Square for a while. I don't feel like going back to the tower just yet."

"OK. But if another person points at me, we're getting in the closest cab and we're heading back."

"Noted, Honey."

A cab finally stopped at the curb, and Tony did not waste any time opening the door for her. She jumped in and he followed suit before closing the door behind him.

"Where to, sir?" the cab driver asked when he was able to at last leave the side of the curb. If he realized who he was driving, he did not show it, and the couple was happy to not have to deal with it.

"Times Square, please."

"Alright."

While Pepper busied her eyes staring at the road through her window, Tony patted his pocket to make sure the box was still there. When Pepper suddenly turned around to face him, Tony patted his other leg to make it seem as if he was playing drums.

Their destination was not far from where they were, but Tony did not want to run the risk of bumping into another jerk that needed a beating along the way. He slid his hand under hers and held on tight, replaying in his head what he was going to tell her before the question popped out on the mega screens.

When they arrived, Tony pulled a wad of bills and handed them to the driver. "Keep the change," he said as he quickly exited the cab and dragged Pepper with him. By the time the cab driver realized the hefty tip he had been given, Pepper and Tony were long gone.

When they felt there was a safe distance between the cab and themselves, the couple slowed down their pace and began their window shopping. Tony had tried to buy her everything she pointed out to him, but she had stopped him every time by saying she was just bringing items to his attention for the sake of distraction.

"I can buy you the whole damn street if you want me to, Pepper."

"I know, Mr. Stark, but that won't be necessary."

"Well, Ms. Potts, keep it as an option in case you change your mind."

"Will do, sir," Pepper responded with her best imitation of Jarvis. She then stopped in front of a home décor display, staring at the items that reminded her of her parents' home. She felt a pang of sadness reach her heart thinking about the argument that was still present between them. The CPS representative she had spoken with just a couple of days ago had informed her that her parents planned to challenge her petition for custody. She could not think of any reason why her parents were adamant that neither she nor Tony kept the kids. It was so unlike her parents to hold such a grudge for such a long time.

Tony noted her distress and hugged her from behind. He rested his chin on her shoulder, planting small kisses on her neck. "What's wrong, Pep?"

Pepper exhaled deeply, not wanting to give Tony another reason to worry. She knew he already felt insecure around her parents, and that he strongly believed –completely justified, too, that her parents hated his guts. She placed her arms on his and leaned her back closer to his chest.

"I was just thinking about the house in Malibu," she lied. "Any plans to rebuild it? I love the city but I miss our privacy back in California."

"I was waiting for you to feel better to ask your input about it. I think the kids would also like it better over there."

"And Jarvis, too," she added, knowing that the poor pooch was behaving well for a dog that was used to roaming around at its leisure.

"Why don't we ask Jarvis to start gathering some information on it? I'd rather stay here while the CPS issue is cleared up. Once that's settled and the house is ready, the five of us can move back to California. What'd you think?"

Pepper nodded to him as she turned her body while still surrounded by his arms. "I think it sounds like a plan."

Tony took advantage of her position to stare at his watch. The announcement was going to appear in less than a minute; he had to get her to a place where she could see it. "Let's finish the walk so we can go home."

"OK."

Led by Tony, the two of them walked to the other side of the street, standing below the usual spot where the ball was dropped during New Year's Eve. Tony pretended to be deciding which way to go as he counted down the last few seconds before the announcement presented itself. As if on cue, all the screens went black for a few seconds, catching the attention of everyone around.

_This is it._

He reached for his pocket and took out the box, eyeing Pepper from the corner of his eyes as she narrowed her eyes at the blank screens. When the screens came back to life, Tony got down on one knee and placed the opened box in his hand. He heard Pepper gasp as she stared at the screen, covering her mouth with her hands.

"Oh, my God, Tony!" she said as tears trailed down her cheeks.

"Yes, Pepper. Will you…"

"NO!" Pepper yelled at him, interrupting his prepared speech. Tony snapped shut the box, the noise catching her attention and forcing her to stare down at him. It was then that she noticed the position he was in, and the fact that he was holding a small jewelry box in his hands, making her eyes open wide.

Tony missed her shocked face as he stared at the screen behind her, suddenly realizing why she was so upset. On every screen around them, a news report played a tape over and over again, with a banner at the bottom of the screen which read: _Pepper Potts a porn star? Sex tape leaked! Is Aldrich Killian the father of her kids?_

The pedestrians around them alternated staring back and forth from the uncensored video to the couple standing a few feet away from them.

* * *

**A/N:** Yes, it's much worse than you thought, but at least I didn't do what Shane Black wanted to do with it and show it at Home Depot. Yes; a Pepper/Killian sex tape was actually part of the script for IM3. I'm having my own fun with it, but don't you worry. Things seem worse than they are, and happy endings are always on the plate for my stories. Now, if you don't hate me _that_ _much_ right now, please drop me a line, tell me what you think…or not…*hides from glares*…I'm just gonna…uhm…go…right…


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: **I'm going to assume that by the crickets I got for the last chapter, some of you are REALLY mad at me. It will get better, I promise. Please, be patient. This story will be wrapping up soon, and I'm thinking of a sequel, less angsty than this one. If you're still on board for this story, I thank you very much

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Tony sat in front of the television in the living room of Stark Tower, bottle of scotch in his hands –his third one in the past two hours. It had taken him less than 24 hours to place a cease and desist order to all mass media outlets for the use of the tape, but by then other minor social media sites had already downloaded, edited and distributed the tape for everyone else who had missed its first broadcast to see.

The insult on the couple had been even greater when the screens at Times Square had suddenly stopped showing the newscast to display his marriage proposal to Pepper; by then neither of them had the will to discuss a wedding. Pepper was in tears, covering her face and trying to control her sobbing. Tony was in shock, holding onto her but not knowing what to do or say.

The cab that had taken them home after the display could not have come any faster; suddenly their world had been shifted again on what he had expected to be the best day of his life. The moments after they had arrived back home were a blur to him. He felt as if they had been caught in a terrible nightmare from which you wake up terrified, but you cannot for the life of you describe which particular situation in the dream made you so scared.

Here he was now; a week after the sex tape scandal, on a day in which they should have been rejoicing the paternity tests confirming Tony's right to his kids, and he was drinking himself to sleep. Last night, Pepper had moved out to a nearby hotel, stating her shame was too great to be around him, and that she needed some time alone. He had insisted that he did not give a _rat's ass_ if she had slept with Killian or not, but she had not listened. After seeing her nervous breakdown for a few days, he reluctantly accepted her wishes to take some time off.

She had left him; and, she had pretty much broken up with him, too, for all he knew. Who would have wanted to stay with a man that caused nothing but trouble to anyone around him? He sure as hell did not want to be that man, but after listing the horrible things that had happened to his friends, he felt he had no right to force them to stick around him if they felt they'd had enough.

At least he knew where she was, and after giving her a few days to calm down he would search for her again, explain to her that their life was not over. Tell her that he still loved her as much as he did yesterday, maybe even more. Tell her that they would move on from this, just as they had many times before. He was going to make it his goal to convince her that as long as they were together, nothing could bring them down, no matter how hard anyone tried; no matter how many people did not want to see them being happy together.

He knew, however, the true reason why she had left. It had not been just the embarrassment of the recording of such an intimate moment with someone other than Tony. She had left because his attitude toward her had changed once they returned home from Times Square. She had misread his actions and had confused them with feelings of anger, hate, distrust, and, above all, repulsion to herself.

By the time he had figured out what he had inadvertently communicated to her, it was too late to clear it up. She apologized to him, many, many times, even though he told her there was nothing to apologize for. She had cried for hours, locking herself in their room, leaving him out of her misery. He had sat outside their door, and with every single one of her sobs that reached his ears, he felt a stab to his chest.

After a while she had fallen asleep, and he had broken inside their room. He had picked her up from the floor and placed her on their bed, taking off her shoes and covering her with a blanket. He had stared at her for hours, berating himself for not being there for her. All he could think about was how he had wasted time in Tennessee when his first priority should have been getting to her. He had led her to this despair; his demons had become her demons.

Aldrich had known how to get to him, and it had all worked according to his plans. He had taken Tony's most precious person in his life, and had done with her as he pleased. He had poisoned her with some virus –a virus he had been happy to discover had disappeared from her DNA strands, and had taken her body, recording every moment of it as the sick bastard he had been. Pepper had said she did not remember any of it; at least not the sex part, but it did not matter if she had no recollection, her business was already out there for everyone to judge.

He knew Pepper thought he was mad at her, but he was mad at himself. She thought he hated her, but in reality he hated himself and Aldrich. She thought he could never trust her, but in fact he felt as if he could not trust himself to keep her safe. She thought he was repulsed by the fact that she had been with another man, but he was only disgusted with the notion of Pepper being taken advantage of when he was prancing around in Tennessee.

The doors of the penthouse opened to allow Happy to walk inside, making a beeline for the couch and standing next to Tony. It took only one second to snatch the bottle out of Tony's hand, grab the closest cushion and hit Tony over the head with it.

"What the HELL, Tony?"

Tony did not react to the hit other than moving his eyes to stare at his former chauffeur with a look of disdain Happy had not seen since Pepper had been presumed dead.

"Are you kidding me with this? Why aren't you with Pepper? Why did you let her leave? She needs you now more than ever!"

"I'm giving her space, Hap," he said as he stood up, wobbled when he tried to walk, and held onto the edge of the couch, feeling the lack of food was getting to him. "I failed her, again."

"Failed her? Are you joking? How did you fail her?"

"I don't think I've got to show you the tape, right?" Tony snapped at Happy, angry that he was having this conversation at all. "He took _advantage_ of her. He…he…" Tony's rant was cut short when he picked up an empty bottle of scotch from the coffee table and threw it against the television screen, shattering both on impact.

"Sir, please calm down. You vitals show you are at risk of suffering a major break down."

"I don't care," Tony responded, kicking the coffee table and flipping it over. "It doesn't matter!"

"Sir –"

"Tony, get a hold of yourself!" Happy demanded of his boss, holding onto Tony and shaking him.

"Let me go, Hogan!"

"Not until you calm down! What good are you to Pepper if you're drunk like this? You oughta be looking for her, knocking at her door and telling her what she needs to hear. Sitting here feeling sorry for yourself is not helping anyone, the least of all you."

"I already tried that. She wouldn't listen. That's why she left, because I couldn't convince her that she still _my_ Pepper."

"Well, try again! Did you really try so hard to get her back so that you could abandon her the moment she needed you?"

"I didn't _abandon_ her! I…just…God, I just can't look at her when I know I can't fix her. I helped her back to consciousness, started the paperwork to get our kids back, but I can't undo what Killian did to her. I can't remove him from her."

"Is that what this is about? About another man being all over her? I thought you'd be over that by now."

"I don't care about that! I just…Pepper's hurting, and there isn't a damned thing I can do to make her forget about it. She looks at me as if I can make it all go away, but I can't, Happy. This time I just can't."

"Boss," Happy began, forcing Tony to sit down on the couch once more. "I don't think she expects you to fix her –she just wants to know you're still there."

"I am."

"Then tell her –_show_ her."

Tony remained silent, staring into nothingness as he thought about Happy's words. He knew his friend was correct, but he also knew it was easier to give advice than to receive it. He knew their friends wanted them to get over it and move on, but there were steps to be taken to get to where they wanted to be. Everyone around them expected them to bounce right back; expected them not to grieve.

Grieve.

Grief.

Grievance.

Grievance: it was just what they needed right now. Even they were not immune to the stages of grieving. Even they were not immune to taking so many hits, so fast, and come out unscathed. Yes; grieving was they had been doing, and what they needed to continue doing to renew their bond. Shock and denial had already passed. Pain, guilt, anger and bargaining had been mixed together. Depression, reflection and loneliness were coming, and not until this stage was properly completed would he and Pepper be able to reach the upward turn, which would then lead to reconstruction, and eventually to acceptance and hope.

Acceptance; of the consequences of their actions, and hope; that it would sort itself out in the end.

Picking up his cell phone, he typed Pepper's number on the text screen. He knew calling her was not going to help, and dropping by her hotel room was not going to sit well with her in her reflection and loneliness stage. However, a few well-placed words of comfort would not hurt. A reminder that they were in this together was all he could afford to give her for now.

After sending the message, Tony called housekeeping to clean up the mess he had made, and excused himself to bathe.

xxxXXXxxx

_When you're ready, I'll be waiting._

Pepper read the text message she had just received from Tony, her fingers looming over the reply option, but not finding the strength to respond. She was alone in a hotel room just a few blocks away from Stark Tower, but she felt as if she was on another planet, far away from his reach and protection. When they had returned home from Times Square, she had tried to pick up her phone and set the record straight with the media and get SI's PR Department involved in cleanup duty, but the shock had been too great for her to put on her unbreakable façade. By the time she had let out the anger she had within her, Tony had already jumped into the metaphorical kitchen and taken the heat for some of the fires that the video had sparked.

_This is not what we need right now; not SI, not Tony, not I._

At this moment, Pepper would give up her kidneys for the name of the person that had released that tape. Clearly, someone was out to get her, or Tony, or both, as there was no other reason why someone would just take it upon themselves to leak the video to the world. Someone who was out for the financial stability would have approached them first, attempted to blackmail them, and demanded a lifetime of luxury in exchange for keeping the contents of the material a secret. Whoever had given or sold the tape to the media was not in it for the money; they were in on it to see them burn.

While it was without question that she and Tony had made plenty of enemies on their way up the corporate ladder, she could not think of one person with the means and knowledge to pull such a show. The person who had published the tape was not a common folk. This was someone who either had incredible luck stumbling upon high-profile materials, or had been somehow involved with the fight against Killian and the Mandarin.

Pepper's mind raced as she thought of the possibilities. Maya Hansen had died by Killian's hand. The President would have not been involved in such a scandal, and she doubted he would be as stupid as to bring attention back to himself after his Vice President was arrested for working with Aldrich. Rhodey, Happy and Tony were out of the question, and she herself had not even known she had slept with the maniac in the first place.

While she remembered Killian showing up at her hotel room and taking her and Maya to Florida, the details of her kidnapping remained obscured, for the most part. She remembered bits and pieces where she was injected with the Extremis, but the pain she experienced during it had made her pass out several times. Sometimes she would open her eyes and see Killian, other times she would see Maya, and sometimes she would only see darkness. If anyone asked her right now what had been real and what had been make-believe, she would have a difficult time listing such details to herself, let alone to anyone else.

She stared at her phone once more, tempted to put Tony's mind at ease by responding to his text message. She felt awful for leaving him as she had, but she could not stand the look on his face. Just seconds before the tape was leaked, he had been down on one knee for her. He had proposed –or the screens had, _whatever_. Either way it was seen, he had demonstrated the highest form of commitment any man could provide, and she had shut him down, albeit not consciously. She had not even had the chance to admire the ring, let alone give a response to him even though they both knew that the answer was going to be a big, fat 'yes.'

Hell, it still was a big, fat 'yes;' unless Tony had changed his mind since watching the tape.

_I wouldn't blame him, if he did._

"Pepper, open up! It's Rhodey!" The General yelled from the other side of the door, startling the phone off Pepper's hands. She bent down to retrieve it before walking to the entrance, hesitating to open the only protection she had from the outside world. She peeked through the peephole and saw Rhodey staring right at it, his hands in the air.

"He's not with me, Pepper. Happy is taking care of him."

Realizing she had nothing to lose, she opened the door and let Rhodes in.

xxxXXXxxx

"So, that blew," Bruce said, not able to think of a better description for Tony's situation. After Tony had freshened up, Happy had surprised him with Bruce's visit. The science enthusiasts were now talking to each other, in one of the R&D laboratories, waiting for Jarvis to finish rendering the Mark VII.

"So, how does this tape justify you building a suit?" Banner asked, pointing at the almost completed Iron Man suit.

"I just want to have one in case I need it to beat up a new face on the guy who leaked the tape," Tony offered, believing every single word he had just said.

"Right, because violence solves everything."

"It'd help me sleep better at night," he shrugged, wrinkling his nose as he did so.

"And Pepper's opinion on this?"

Tony's eyes darted to either side of him, feeling as if she was going to jump him any moment to smack him upside the head. When he was certain it was just the two of them in the lab, he cleared his throat and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "She doesn't know."

"Well, that sounds_ foolproof_," Banner responded sarcastically.

"Really?"

"No. _Stupid_; that's how it sounds: stupid."

"Ye have no faith," Tony said, staring at his watch and determining the rendition had only one hour to go. "Anyway, I'm gonna give her a couple more days and then I'm gonna knock on her door until she opens it. I'm bringing her back and I'm going to propose to her, again. This time, though, it will be from the sacred privacy of the penthouse."

"I'm sure you learned _that_ lesson, so how about this lesson? Since you're gonna do something stupid, why don't you buy Pepper something nice in advance," Bruce offered as he noticed a magazine on the table. He leaned forward and grabbed it, opening it to whatever page showed a pair of shoes and showed it to Tony, who immediately scoffed at the suggestion.

"These heels are nice, right?" Bruce asked as he pointed to a particular pair on the page.

"Come on, Banner! First of all, those are _pumps_, not _heels_. Second of all, they are _so_ last year, Bruce! Today's trend is-s-s…what?" Tony asked, cutting his explanation short when Bruce's eyebrows hit the roof.

"Are you seriously giving me shoe advice, Stark?"

"I…uhm…mighta read…you know, _Cosmo_ to Pepper when she…when she…was asleep…"

"Riiiight…" Banner said, dropping the magazine back where he had found it. "So, do you have any idea who made this tape?"

"Killian, for sure. We weren't able to get a hold of the original video until a couple of hours ago when my lawyers were able to win it from the channel that started showing it."

"What are you going to do with it?"

"Destroy it, and then look for any copy I can find and do the same."

"Actually, sir, regarding the status of the tape…" the AI began, almost hesitant to relay the information to its creator. "I took the liberty of analyzing it. I just finished the task and I would like to show you the final results."

"What final results, Jarvis? I told you to get rid of it!"

"I understand, sir. However, my system picked up some unusual reads from its contents. I think you will be happy with the results."

Tony and Bruce looked at each other, asking the other with their confused looks what Jarvis could be talking about. A moment later, one of the screens on the lab turned on to show the results of the original video. Both men walked closer to the screen, their mouths hanging as they read Jarvis's final analysis of the tape: the video was a fake.

xxxXXXxxx

Tony left Banner and Happy behind with a list of tasks to complete before taking the regular elevator to the first floor of the Tower. Now that they knew and had evidence that the tape had been altered, Tony's lawyers had grounds to demand a massive apology and retraction from the media, as well as prosecute anyone who distributed the tape. He felt like an idiot for not considering that Killian would doctor a video when he knew he had doctored all of the Mandarin's tapes.

_Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!_

The elevator was as slow as hell for him, stopping at almost all floors. He had let his attorneys take his executive elevator to get to his penthouse faster and start making phone calls after discussing the findings with Happy, Bruce and Jarvis. He trusted them all to pull some strings and scare the appropriate parties into submission. Tony would make sure that whoever had ruined his proposal, and Pepper's life for a week, was going to pay for the rest of their insignificant existence.

Tony put on his sunglasses even though it was becoming dark outside. He did not want to be bothered as he rode the public elevator, opting to face the corner of it and pretending to play with his phone. Employees walked in and out without so much as stealing a glance at their CEO, more concerned with the notion of finally heading home for the day. Tony tuned out their conversations until a particularly loud one caught his interest.

"I'm telling you, man, Potts _knows_ how to fuck," a young man told his friend as they boarded the elevator.

"Dude," the other young man who was being addressed said. "Lower your voice; there's people in here."

"So, what? I'm sure by now everyone saw her do that guy Killian. She's got some moves, I tell you."

The man who was trying to redirect the conversation became visibly uncomfortable with his friend's behavior, giving apologetic smiles to the other ten business people inside the elevator. "Yes, she does, but can we talk about this some other time…for example, _never_?"

"Don't be such a pussy! Like, you don't jerk yourself to the video at night? I mean, who wouldn't? No wonder she has Stark wrapped around her dirty finger. She's probably been blowing him all the time she's worked for him."

"Derek, just, please…"

"What? I already thought she was hot, but seeing what she can do, well…I'm tempted to go up to her floor and put a little something in her drink, you know what I mean?" Derek said as he made an obscene gesture with his hips. His display was interrupted by a collective gasp. The moment the doors opened, everyone in the elevator with the exception of Derek exited it in a hurry. Derek noticed there were other floors selected on the panel and frowned.

"Yo, Rick, this is the wrong floor!"

Rick shook his head to Derek before turning around and disappearing with the crowd. The elevator doors closed as Derek scoffed.

"What's the big deal? I'd fuck her, too," he mumbled as the corner of his eye caught the presence of someone standing behind him. He turned around and was about to continue his rant with the guest when the man took off his sunglasses that had been resting halfway down the bridge of his nose, making Derek's blood drain to the floor.

"Mr. Stark?"

Tony's only response was to look at the security camera for an instant before returning his gaze at the blanched out man.

"Jarvis, hold the elevator."

xxxXXXxxx

Half an hour later, Tony was inside another elevator as he headed upstairs to Pepper's hotel room. He had tried calling her but she was not answering, and neither was Rhodey. After checking with the reception to confirm she had not checked out yet –and convincing the clerk to give him a spare copy of the keycard to Pepper's room, he had tried calling them once more to warn them he was on his way. After he received no response once more, his excitement was too great and had made him feel that running the risk of seeing her before she was ready for him was worth the shot.

He tapped the walls of the elevator all the way up to the 15th floor. As soon as the doors opened, Tony ran out of the machine, almost impacting himself with a service cart that had been waiting outside. Tony apologized to the startled maintenance person before he stood in the middle of the hall, looking left and right until he determined that Pepper's room would be on the left. He picked up the pace and did not stop until he reached the last room on the right; almost not able to contain his joy to tell Pepper everything was going to be alright.

He straightened out his jacket and cleared his throat before knocking loudly on the door.

"Pepper! Rhodey! It's me! Open up!"

He waited a few seconds and when no response was heard, he knocked again, this time with both hands. "Pepper! I've got great news! The tape is a fake! Open up, please!"

He waited a couple more seconds and pounded on the door for a third time. "Open up, Platypus! I'm not joking! The tape was doctored!"

Tony sighed as he took out the keycard and unlocked the door when no noise was heard after his third attempt. He turned on the light as he walked inside only to gasp at the scene. The disarray of the room combined with the blood stains on the carpet and bed sheets did not add up to what he had expected to see. Yet, the bigger shock that sprung him into action came from the body that was lying on the floor.

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you for not hating me that much! Here is another exciting chapter as this story comes close to its end. So, Pepper's video was a fake and the kids are Tony's…Oh, happy day! Right? Right? Oh, the body, yeah…about that…what do you think is gonna happen next?


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Happy, Bruce and Tony sat outside the emergency room as they waited on news regarding Rhodey's health. Tony's first impression upon seeing his battered and bloodied body had been that he was dead. His fingers had dialed 911 without even looking at the screen as his other hand checked for a pulse. Once had had found one, he had taken a sigh of relief. He then had briefed the emergency services operator of what he had found at the same time he flipped the room to find signs of what happened to Pepper. When he had found that her luggage and phone were still in the room, he concentrated on Rhodey again.

Since then, Tony had forced himself to sit still –or as still as Tony Stark could ever be, as he waited for any doctor to stop by and tell them Rhodey's status. He wanted to be looking for Pepper, fearing he was going to waste time again when she could be in danger or at the mercy of some predator, but he was also worried about Rhodey. Besides, waiting to find out if Rhodey was alright and conscious –and possibly speaking to him, would also help him get an idea of what had happened to them in that hotel room, thus hitting two birds with one stone. He knew he sounded selfish to some degree, but he also believed that no one would really blame him for it at this point.

Bruce noticed his friend's patience was reaching its end. Tony legs were rapidly bouncing up and down; shaking the row of seats they all occupied at the moment, but no words escaped his mouth. He kept closing and opening his hands, eyes piercing the door of the emergency room as if his intense stare would make the doctors move faster. Banner rested a comforting hand on his shoulder, snapping Tony off his mental reclusiveness.

The kind doctor had been waiting for Tony's patience to almost run out, knowing that if he was left to his devices immediately after the discovery in the hotel room, Tony would cause more damage than good. After two hours of waiting, it now appeared to Bruce that Tony was ready to do what he did best.

"Tony, it's OK. You should go back to the Tower and the hotel room, pick up some clues."

Tony's eyes widened at Bruce's suggestion. The billionaire was dying to leap out of the hospital and do his own investigation, but he had been torn with the options. "Are you sure? I mean, Rhodey…"

"Will be unaffected by you being here or not," Banner said, taking off his hand from Tony and poking Happy's ribs to get his attention. "We'll call you the moment he wakes up. Right now, I think that energy you have is best used to find Pepper."

The look of gratefulness on Tony's face could have not been greater. His eyes traveled from Bruce to Happy, who nodded at him, encouraging him to leave. With a simple appreciative nod to his friends, Tony stood up and ran down the hall and out the hospital in seconds. When he reached the exit, he dug his hand inside his pocket and took out the bracelets that were created to control the Mark VII in free fall, preparing for such an occasion should it arrive.

Tony called a cab and boarded it immediately, tempting the driver with a big tip if he disobeyed all traffic laws and got him to the hotel where Pepper had been staying in, in less than five minutes. The cab driver, recognizing the passenger, gladly accepted the challenge and took off. As Tony avoided hitting the sides of the maniacally-driven vehicle, he took out his ever trusting cell phone, activated the Mark VII, and commanded Jarvis to send it to wait for him behind the hotel.

As agreed, less than five minutes later, Tony dropped the promised payment on the driver's seat before he sprinted out the car and ran toward the back of the hotel. Upon sensing Tony's proximity, the Mark VII opened up its front side to allow Tony to suit up. The moment the last intricate piece of machinery locked, Iron Man took off to the skies, floating in midair as Jarvis analyzed the hotel blueprints.

"The marked window leads to Ms. Potts' room."

"Have the police finished their shitty clue-hunting?" Tony asked as he reached the window and budged it open.

"Indeed, sir. They only took hair and blood samples, but left enough evidence behind for you to run your own forensic evaluation."

"Of course they did," Tony agreed, his suit already pinpointing the location of the samples. At the same time, Jarvis scanned the small room, creating a manipulative grid for Tony's use later on. Tony gathered the samples he needed before giving the room one last look, making sure he did not miss anything important. Tony had left behind Pepper's luggage which the police had already taken, but he had taken and hidden her cell phone with him before the paramedics arrived for Rhodey.

"Jarvis, break into the security cameras' feed of the hotel. I need images of who visited Pepper in the last 24 hours."

"Will do, sir. The scan of the room is complete."

"Good. Start analysis and render possible situations based on the evidence. Let's head back to the penthouse."

"As you wish," the AI responded, charting the flight path back to the penthouse. In less than a minute, Tony was walking inside the penthouse through the balcony window, stripping off the suit as he entered the room.

Tony dropped the samples on the coffee table, which by now had been replaced with a new one, before taking out Pepper's cell phone to browse its activity history. Jarvis's laser began analyzing the samples as Tony stood up, cell phone in his hands, and calling upon Jarvis to project the crime scene grid.

Tony lifted his eyes from the phone screen when he saw no phone calls or text messages had been sent in hours, and concentrated on the image before him. He remembered Rhodey's body had been lying face down on the floor, by the foot of the bed. The bed sheets were halfway down the bed, giving him the impression that Rhodey had tried to hold on to them to prevent his fall.

"Jarvis, how is the feed task coming along?"

"Almost complete, sir."

The lamps set on the nightstands had been shattered against the wall, posing to him the possibility that whatever had attacked Rhodey and Pepper have had to put up with resistance from the latter. The opposite wall to the bed –where the lamps had been shattered on, showed scratches on the wallpaper, and the chair that had been resting against it was torn in two.

_Rhodey must have tried to attack whoever snuck up on them, and then Pepper might have tried to help by throwing things at the intruder, _Tony mused to himself, but still not entirely convinced the story pieced well together. Who would sneak up on the both of them in such a confined room without either of them noticing well in advance? Who would be stupid enough to take on an armed and uniformed Air Force General, _and_ the girlfriend of Iron Man?

_The same idiot who would release a fake tape to the world. Unless, the guy didn't sneak in. Maybe he was let in, posing as a hotel employee?_

"Jarvis, I need that feed."

"Loading it now, sir."

Tony redirected his attention to the replaced screen in front of him, showing in fast motion the feeds of five cameras. One camera showed the entrance surveillance; a second camera showed the elevator feed; a third camera displayed the hall where Pepper's room was; a fourth camera showed the parking lot; and the fifth feed showed images from the reception.

After a few minutes of observing the feeds, he found Rhodey arriving at the hotel. He watched as the General walked inside the building, spoke to the attendant, and made his way upstairs. He exited the elevator and headed to Pepper's room, knocking on it and eventually going in. The hotel hall feed remained uneventful until Tony's image came upon the screen. Tony noted the timestamps on the cameras, and cursed his luck for deciding to beat up Derek. Had he not bothered with him, he would have arrived only minutes after Rhodey had gone inside the room.

_So, the attack came from inside._

"Jarvis, do we have any feed from the side of the building, perhaps showing the window of the room?"

"No such streaming exists, sir."

"Dammit!"

After determining the cameras were useless, Tony returned his attention to the projection. "What do the samples show?"

"Blood sample analysis returned a match for General Rhodes and Miss Potts. Hair sample analysis returned a match for Miss Potts, only."

"Did you find any other matches?"

"I'm afraid not. Based on these samples, Miss Potts and General Rhodes were the only ones present in the room."

_Unless the attacker was smooth; wanted to remain anonymous and came inside through the window -somehow._

"Jarvis, run a black light scan on the room for other possible fluids left behind."

The grid glowed red as a laser ran through every inch of the projection. Once the analysis was complete, Jarvis spoke again.

"Sir, an unidentifiable substance was left behind under the bed."

"What do you mean _unidentifiable_?"

"My database does not contain a match for it."

"Lift the bed."

The projection of the bed was immediately removed, leaving behind the rest of the room intact. Tony walked toward the space, focusing on the glowing marks on the rug. The marks were defined whilst sloppy, as if done with haste.

"What's 404-507-3520?" Tony asked as he read aloud the markings on the rug. He doubted the numbers had been placed there with an invisible substance just for the heck of it. Whoever had taken Pepper was leaving clues behind; clues that they knew only Tony could find.

"There is no phone number registered as such, sir."

"Maybe it's _not_ a phone number."

"What else could it be?"

"Perhaps a serial number?"

"Running analysis for serial numbers."

As Tony waited for the analysis to be completed, he sat on the couch, covering his eyes with his hands and thinking of possible meanings for the numbers Jarvis had found: A social security number, perhaps? It was one digit too long, but hell; he did not even know his own number so the limit could be that great by now. A military code? It was not one he was familiar with, but perhaps Rhodey would know about it.

_Rhodey._ Tony took out his phone as if willing it to ring with good news about his friend. He stared at it for another second before the unexpected ringing caught his ears.

However, the ring was not coming from his phone, but Pepper's.

Tony scrambled his hands inside his pocket, again taking out Pepper's phone and staring at the number on the screen. It read 404-507-3520.

"What the hell? I thought the number was not registered," he mumbled to himself as he pressed the button to pick up the call.

"Pepper?"

A light chuckle was heard from the other end of the line, and somehow Tony knew that what was about to follow was not going to amuse him.

"_Anthony, Anthony, Anthony –when will you learn not to assume you know everything?"_

"Who's this?"

_ "Why, I'm insulted! It's only been a few years and you've already forgot about me, your best pal?"_

Tony narrowed his eyes, his heart beating faster every second. Only two people in the world had ever called him by his full first name, and one of them had died a long, long, long time ago.

"Hammer?"

_"Ding, ding, ding, ding, DING! I knew you couldn't have just forgotten about me! I'm much too memorable."_

"To what do I owe the displeasure of your call?" Tony asked, rubbing his forehead with his fingers. "Aren't you supposed to be, I don't know, picking up bar soaps from the prison's shower floors?"

_"Very funny, Tony. I've actually hired someone to do that sort of stuff for me, I'll have you know. In fact, you might know her. She used to work for you."_

Tony's eyes widened, instantly understanding Hammer's words. "Where is she?"

_"I think you already know. Either way, I have a business conference to tend to, and you're certainly invited to come. We'll be waiting for you; this is a meeting you don't want to be late to."_

Tony swallowed hard as he heard the click that symbolized the end of the call. He eyed the phone's screens as it blinked three times to show the final length of the call. He already knew the call had not been long enough to trace.

"Jarvis?"

"No serial numbers associated with it. The call Miss Potts' cell phone received was made from an encrypted virtual line."

"How long until you can skip trace it?"

"At least an hour."

"I don't have an hour – _Pepper_ doesn't have an hour. Jarvis, was Hammer released from prison?"

Tony waited the few seconds it took his AI to scan the open records and news to find any mention of Hammer breaking out of jail.

"No official records exist in the open database; hacking into private servers to continue search."

Despite the grim circumstances, Tony could not help to smirk at his virtual butler's illegal approach to gather information. Even his AI was beginning to become accustomed to his unorthodox methods.

"Talk to me."

"An official document has been found granting early release to Justin Hammer."

"When?"

"It is dated a year ago."

"Who approved it?"

"Former Vice President Rodriguez."

"That mother…Jarvis, send the information to Happy and Banner, and let me know the moment Rhodey is out from surgery."

"Will do, sir. What about the location of Miss Potts?"

_I think you already know._ Hammer's response replayed in Tony's mind. It was obvious to him that Hammer was directly involved with Pepper's abduction, and he clearly wanted Tony to be part of the show. How Hammer had managed to take Pepper under Rhodey's watch was still incredible to him. Hammer's plans had never had so much success before.

Tony stared at the numbers on the projection once more, forcing himself to keep his head cool. If he wanted to help Pepper, he needed to set aside all emotions until he had a plan –something he was not used to doing. The phone number was not a phone number, yet a call was received from the number itself. When was a phone number not a phone number?

_I think you already know…business conference…_

"Jarvis?"

"Sir?"

"What are the coordinates for Queens, New York?"

"40°45′0″N 73°52′0″W , sir," Jarvis responded as he placed the numbers on the screen. Tony walked closer to the screen, altering the coordinates so that the degree and minutes and seconds symbols, along with the cardinal point indicators disappeared, leaving behind only the numbers themselves.

"404-507-3520…that's it, Jarvis! Hammer has Pepper in the old Hammer Industries warehouse in Queens!"

"Setting path to location," Jarvis responded, programming the Mark VII as Tony suited up. "ETA is 15 minutes."

"Make it ten, J."

xxxXXXxxx

From all the places and things Tony thought he could have been going to or doing tonight, breaking into an abandoned warehouse located on Hammer Industries' property was certainly not one of them. The location had been left to its own devices since Justin's arrest during the Stark Expo, and it showed that without the man's influence, the Board of Directors of Hammer Industries had no interest in keeping the company alive.

Without the company's well-being and status holding him back, Hammer had been able to sneak out of prison without being noticed at all. Who would give a damn about a broken man? A criminal at that, who had helped another criminal fake his death? Besides, with the news of Pepper coming back, giving birth to twins and being in an apparent sex tape…

_ Shit! Distractions! That's what these have been!_

Tony cursed himself for not seeing the connection before. Who would want Pepper's reputation destroyed? Someone who had their own reputation destroyed by Pepper! Who would have wanted Stark Industries to struggle with renegotiations? Someone who could not renegotiate their own company! It was so obvious to him now that he felt like beating himself against a wall.

The seemingly out-of-place single light on at the main entrance of the warehouse told Tony he was in the correct location, but he was not about to just waltz in through the front door. He ignited his thrusters and hovered in front of the second story windows, trying to determine if he could get a head start on whatever Hammer's plans where. When his analysis did not prove fruitful, he used his right hand's repulsors to break open a hole for him to walk into. As soon as he entered the building, a bright light illuminated the middle of the room, inviting the hero to land in the middle of it.

"The business standards have really lowered 'round here, haven't they? Where's the sign-in sheet?" Tony asked, staring at the partially illuminated catwalk hanging in the air a few feet away from him, and knowing someone was hiding behind the shadows due to their presence being picked up by the suit's heat sensors.

"Always the joker, Anthony. But, this time, the joke is on you," the voice of Justin Hammer said as he walked closer to the edge of the catwalk, resting his weight on the rail. "Welcome to your grave, Tony Stark."

"Sure, hey! Why don't we make this easier on you and hand over Pepper right now before I blow your head off."

Hammer shook his head. "Tony, Tony, always so…_impatient_. Honestly speaking, we both have something the other wants. Why don't we establish a trade?"

"Trade? What the hell do I have that you want?"

"Well, a few things, but one in particular. At this very moment, some of my new business associates are deliberating with a handful of the members of the board of Stark Industries, inviting them to revoke your controlling interest in the company as the renegotiation takes place. Your media coverage has not been the best, I must say."

Tony did not respond, but had Jarvis send the information to his own attorneys for investigation. When Tony did not respond, Hammer took his silence as an invitation to continue his bartering speech.

"My offer, Tony, is that in exchange for your whore, you sign over your company to me."

Tony chuckled, carefully avoiding showing any anger towards Hammer's reference to Pepper. "Do you think that the Board of Directors is going to choose _you_ –a felon, over _me_, the fucking brains behind the inventions of the company? What did you smoke when you were locked up, uh?"

"They will have no choice when their CEO dies, don't you think? Think about it, Stark. You can either transfer your company and keep Potts; or, you can fight about it, die, and lose Potts and the company in the process. I'm being extremely generous, given the circumstances, if you ask me."

"Generous, my ass," Tony said as he lifted his hands and aimed them at Hammer. "You've got about 5 seconds to release Pepper before I incinerate your –UGH!"

Tony's face hit the floor below him, the intensity of the surprise attack making him slide across as the suit scratched the floor until the friction stopped its movement. Iron Man used his arms to lift himself up, slowly turning around to see another light had been activated to reveal a similar catwalk on the opposite side of the one Hammer was standing on.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Tony. I don't fight my own fights. I've got people to do that for me," Hammer said as he pointed to the other catwalk. Tony's eyes darted from looking at Hammer to staring at the empty catwalk until the voice of the newcomer made his skin crawl.

"Maya was absolutely right, Tony. Your formula was the key to fixing the Extremis flaws. I should've probably told her I had already figured out how to perfect the Extremis before she reached out to you. It would've spared me the year I wasted trying to recover from you blowing me up.

"What?" he continued. "Didn't you stop to think that if Pepper had survived, maybe so did I?"

"I didn't waste my thinking about you, Killian. Now, where is she? Or do I have to blow you up again?"

"Tony, didn't you hear my business partner? We don't fight our own fights, anymore. It's too counterproductive."

"That sounds to me like you're both too chickenshit to fight me," Tony said as he aimed his repulsor at Aldrich but was again stopped by a hit on his back.

"Dammit! Who the fuck keeps doing this?" Tony mumbled as he looked around himself. The darkness around him was all he saw until a quick movement to his left caught his attention, prompting him to blast the glowing target. The target was faster than his hit, and it moved rapidly to its left. Tony aimed another hit at it, but said target moved to its right and began zigzagging when Tony increased his attacks.

After a quick blink, the attacker had jumped from Tony's right side to his left, and repeated the same zigzagging pattern, avoiding all attacks Tony sent its way. Jarvis began extrapolating the attacker's movements until an algorithm was created to predict its next move.

_Dammit, he's got a freaking army of furnaces in here, I'm screwed. I can't call Rhodey. I could call Bruce but…_

"Gotcha!" Tony said as one of his hits finally hit the target by using Jarvis' algorithm. The impact slowed down the attacker as it limped its way to the light. Tony did not waste any more time and sent a large attack toward his enemy, watching with happiness as a severed arm flew every which-a-way, parts of it landing a few feet away from Tony.

"Want some more?" Tony asked as the form came to view. Tony's eyes widened and he lifted his faceplate to make sure his eyes were not deceiving him. Standing before him was Jack Potts, in the flesh –sans an arm he was quickly reforming. Tony's eyes flew to face Killian and Hammer as they gave him smug smiles.

A noise to his left caught Tony's attention, only to realize that Joanne Potts was coming into the light as well. A second later, to his right, Greg Potts stood proudly, eyes glowing orange.

_Shit. Shit. Shit._

"Behold, Tony," Killian said from above. "My four successful prototypes of the Extremis 2.0."

"Four? I only see…" Tony's sentence was interrupted by a hit coming from behind. He closed his faceplate and turned immediately, dreading what he knew he was about to see. When the fourth prototype came to the light, Tony exhaled in short breaths, feeling the world –_his world_, crumbling under his feet.

"Pepper?"

* * *

**A/N:** THE END….Just kidding! Who's interested in the next chapter? Anyone?


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: Descriptive and rapid scenes await you.**

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Tony felt his mouth run dry when he saw her standing before him, glowing orange as the army he had once fought in the past. He was both relieved and terrified to find her alive; not at all wanting a fight between them to take place, but knowing one was inevitable. He knew for a fact how strong a human enhanced with the Extremis virus could be, and while the Mark VII was considerably sturdier than the Mark XLII he had used to fight Killian in the past, the fact that he could not find it in himself to hurt her was going to be his downfall.

She stared directly at him with an unreadable face on her features, slowly blinking as the swirl of orange played in the pool of her eyes.

"Are you truly shocked, Tony? I told you she could be perfect, I wasn't going to waste her flawless merge with the virus by letting it slide," Pepper uttered to him, but the look in her eyes told Tony she was not the one thinking the words coming out of her mouth. He stole a quick glance at Killian, who smiled and nodded to him to confirm Tony's suspicions: the Extremis 2.0 allowed Killian to control his soldiers from afar.

"Pepper," Tony began, speaking in a soft and slow voice. "This is not you, baby. You've never let _anyone_ tell you what to do."

"You waste your time, Stark," she responded. "She only listens to me, now."

Tony's blood boiled, imagining all the horrible things he wanted to do to Aldrich. From all the revenge ideas he could have come up with, he had to go with the one that hurt him the most. He could not bring himself to attack her, no matter how much his own life depended on it.

"We'll see about that," Tony finally responded.

Iron Man lifted his arms and aimed at Pepper, visibly charging his repulsors to attack. For an instant, Tony saw Killian's surprise through Pepper's furrowed eyebrows, giving him the opening he needed. Tony screamed loudly and faked a move towards Pepper, causing the other three members of the Potts family to jump on him.

Anticipating this move, Tony quickly turned on the spot, giving his back to Pepper and released the stored energy from his repulsors and chest RT, hitting all three of the enemies he could and feeling Pepper's punch hit the back of his head. With a quick twirl, Tony grabbed Pepper's arm on impact, pressing her body against his back and holding onto the back of her neck as his feet thrusters boosted him and Pepper away from the light and onto the edge of the room, creating a hole as they tore through the walls of the warehouse.

Killian and Hammer stared at each other and then at the hole through which Pepper and Tony had just disappeared, not believing their much anticipated fight had been relocated without their consent.

"Are you kidding me?" Hammer asked, hitting the rail with his fists.

"Dammit!" Killian said before addressing his little army of Extremis soldiers. "What are you waiting for? Go after them!"

Joanne, Greg and Jack slowly stood up, rebuilding the parts of their bodies that had been blown up by Tony's attack. They wobbly began walking toward the hole in the wall but a second explosion in front of them sent them flying back to where they had just gotten up from.

Killian and Hammer leaned down on their catwalks, waiting for the dust to dissipate so they could see what had caused the attack. Their confusion distracted them, causing them to not notice the two well-placed explosive arrows that had just landed under the structures they stood on.

xxxXXXxxx

Tony held on to Pepper as tight as he could, taking them as far away from the warehouse as possible. Pepper struggled to free herself from him, heating up his arms and exerting a considerable amount of pressure on his armor until Tony had no option but to drop them both on the ground –10 miles away from the warehouse.

The moment their bodies touched the ground, Tony had to roll away from Pepper's quick recovery time as she almost landed a punch to his chest. The hole she made in the hard ground was then widened by the melting rock the heat of her hands had left behind. She pulled back her hand and stared up, wasting no time in jumping toward Tony.

"Wow, Pepper! Snap out of it, Honey! It's me!" he said, using his thrusters and flight stabilizers to avoid her constant attacks. They had landed in an empty lot away from Hammer's company, giving them the space they needed to hash out their fight. However, this also meant there was no place to hide from the killing machine the redhead had just become.

Pepper stopped her attempts at hitting the flying form of Iron Man, opting to stand below him, opening her mouth, and breathing fire in his direction.

"Holy shit!" Tony cursed, almost failing to move out of the way in time. His surprise lowered his alertness, allowing Pepper to grab him by one of the armored boots, sending him crashing down on the ground. Tony felt the air being pushed out of his lungs as a large rock underneath him partially punctured the back of suit.

"Sir, the back thrusters have become unusable."

"Fuck!" he said, trying to regain his senses. Pepper sat on top of him, punching the faceplate from side to side. Tony's arms flailed around, trying to stop her hits but his attempts only made her pick up the pace.

"Pep, please! Pep, STOP!"

Tony's words seemed to only enrage her more. She ceased the hits on the now loose faceplate and linked her fingers with his. Once she had a good grip on them, she began applying pressure and heat on his gauntlets, causing Tony to scream in pain as he felt the melting titanium alloy burn his skin. She was trying to remove any gadget Tony could use to fly away from her again, and she was doing a helluva job.

"PEPPPPEERRR! STTTTOOOPPP!" he managed to plead between screams. It was not until the deformed gauntlets came off that she stopped her punishment on him, leaving behind burns that would take weeks to heal.

"Jarvis, chest RT!" Tony commanded his AI, who immediately released a low-impact beam of energy, pushing Pepper off Iron Man. The loud scream she uttered was not lost to him, making him feel even more regret to have to resort to such means.

Tony scrambled to his feet, the faceplate falling to the ground on its own. He took only a handful of steps before an already recovered Pepper kicked him in the back, sending him to hit the ground face first. The warmth he felt making its way down his nose and onto his lips told him she had finally drawn blood.

Tony sputtered the blood and dirt that had accumulated inside his mouth from his busted inner lips. He groaned as he tried to stand up once more, but Pepper's reflexes were faster than his once more. In an instant, Pepper bent down and grabbed Tony's left arm, placed her foot on his back to push him to the ground with her weight, and pulled Tony's arm out of its socket.

Tony's screamed louder this time, waiting for the final blow to be landed. He closed his eyes, forcing his mind to think about anything but the pain. The final blow never reached him, however, and instead his arm was let go at the same time Pepper pulled her weight off him.

"Tony? Oh, my God!"

xxxXXXxxx

The two simultaneous explosions that went off were successful in dropping the would-be new business partners off their pedestals. Killian, with the Extremis still coursing through his body, was able to somewhat plan his landing, avoiding any major injury. Hammer, however, had not been so lucky, landing on his back, and ending up buried under a pile of rubble.

With the fall, Killian lost his control over his soldiers, watching as they stood up, staring around them with lost and confused gazes. He slowly stood up as well, assessing the situation before he decided what to command his soldiers to do. As the dust settled, he was able to see the marksman who had caused the explosions standing a few feet away from him, aiming another arrow directly at him.

"Oh, I see. The archer is here."

Barton did not immediately react to Killian's comment, but instead smirked slightly when Killian flinched as the feeling of a needle almost piercing the back of his neck caught him by surprise.

"I'm told you're easy to set off, Killian. Want to prove it's true?"

Killian knew the Black Widow was holding a dose of the Extremis virus in her hands, aiming to inject him with an amount he would not be able to self-regulate in a short amount of time. He was not surprised to see S.H.I.E.L.D. jump to Tony's aid, but he was surprised to know they had some idea of what the Extremis could do.

"I think my technology is way out of your league, Agent Romanoff," Killian responded, slowly taking control over his soldiers. In the blink of an eye, Killian dislodged himself from Natasha's grip, fumbling the needle out of her hands and melting it in his own. The exploding arrow Hawkeye let lose pierced Killian's back, blowing a hole in said man.

Holding onto his control over the three present Potts, he allowed his body to fall on the ground, feeling his flesh and skin regenerate. Meanwhile, Natasha became busy fighting Jack Potts, while Clint took his own fight against Greg. Joanne took this opportunity to lift two large pieces of debris from the floor, heating them up and aiming them at the unsuspecting S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

"I don't think so," the voice of the Iron Patriot said from behind Joanne, shooting at the debris in her hands, blowing them to pieces before they caused any damage. Joanne turned around and pounced toward the Iron Patriot, quickly forgetting her previous attempt at taking out Barton and Romanoff.

Killian stood up, watching the fight taking place in front of him. His real target was Tony and Pepper, which were no longer here. He closed his eyes as he concentrated on Pepper's location, doing as he had before to find out whatever he needed from her. Just as before, he made Pepper's ears his ears, and Pepper's eyes his eyes, allowing him to take in as much as of her surroundings as he could.

xxxXXXxxx

"Tony, dear _God_! What have I done to you?" Pepper said as she bent down, feeling anger and desperation at seeing Tony's battered body. He was yet to recover from the pain of his loosened arm, groaning and emitting light sobs as he tried to regain his bearings. Hot tears ran down his cheeks, not believing how unbearable the pain was.

"Tony, answer me! What…how…_what_ do I do?"

Tony stopped attempting to lift himself, knowing that the strength would be wasted for this effort. He rested the left side of his face on the ground, eyeing Pepper as she leaned closer to him. He was not sure if he was happy or scared to see her concerned face again, so he opted to take the highroad as he always did. "Pep, is that the _not-so-pissed-off-at-Tony_ REAL you?"

"Tony! How can you joke at a time like this?" She reprimanded him, taking in the severity of his injuries. "Why the hell did you let me do this to you? Why didn't you stop me?"

Tony closed his eyes, exhaling a light chuckle. "Honey, you know I wouldn't hurt you."

"But…but…Tony! Just look at what I did!"

"I don't gotta see it, Pep. I can_ feel_ it."

Pepper stood up and looked around them, her eyes falling on the mangled faceplate. She ran toward it, picking it up and screaming into it.

"Jarvis! Jarvis can you hear me?"

"Yes, Miss Potts. Welcome back."

"Thank you, Jarvis. Please, get some paramedics over here, now! Tony's badly hurt! I-I hurt him!"

"I've already notified S.H.I.E.L.D. of the situation. They are currently handling the other fight back at the warehouse. Emergency services will be here, shortly."

"What other fight? You mean with…my parents?"

"Indeed. Agent Romanoff, Agent Barton, and Iron Patriot are trying to keep them from hurting themselves."

"What about Killian, and Hammer?" Tony asked from his spot on the ground. Pepper walked back to him, placing the faceplate next to his face.

"I believe Mr. Hammer and Mr. Killian have worse problems right now, sir."

xxxXXXxxx

Killian heard through Pepper that the remainder of S.H.I.E.L.D. was on its way, giving him the final push he needed to leave the premises. After stealing once final glance at the fight taking place behind him, he stood up and began his trek away from the light. His jog was cut short when he hit a wall, sending him flying back. He shook his head lightly, blinking several times only to see a pair of angry green eyes staring back at him, followed by the loud growl of the _wall _he had just hit.

xxxXXXxxx

Hammer sputtered dirt out of his mouth, slowly pushing debris off his body. He could hear the sounds of the battle behind him, and when he heard the war cry of the Hulk just a few feet away from him, the adrenaline he thought he had lost instantly returned to him.

"I'm not staying to see that!" he said, struggling as he stood up and ran the other way. He saw the back door of the warehouse and sped up to reach it, opening it up and exiting it without bothering to close it behind him. He stared over his shoulder to see if anyone was following him, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw no one was chasing after him.

His relief, however, did not last long when he hit something in front of him. The something grabbed Hammer by his collar, keeping him from fleeing. Hammer chuckled nervously, swallowing hard when he recognized the man standing in front of him.

"Just where the_ hell_ do you think you're going… _sir_?" Nick Fury asked before punching Hammer's lights out with his right fist.

xxxXXXxxx

The fight inside the warehouse continued, slowly turning in favor of the Extremis soldiers. Although said soldiers were unable to use their heat powers to full effect due to Killian's current… distraction, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents knew that using all their strength on the Potts was not an option, subduing them being their only order.

"We can't keep this up! A little help, please!" Romanoff yelled at the Iron Patriot as he too struggled to keep Joanne Potts under restraint. With one final effort, Iron Patriot was able to inject Joanne with a paralyzing agent, which immediately caused her body to stiffen and fall to the ground. Iron Patriot repeated the technique with the struggling Greg and Jack, resulting in the end of the fight.

"Are we done here?" The Iron Patriot asked, scanning his surroundings with the help of Jarvis.

"We are, sir. Director Fury has apprehended Mr. Hammer. And, the Hulk is currently dragging an unconscious Dr. Killian toward the containment unit Director Fury has ready for him."

"What about Stark?"

"He is in need of medical assistance."

"On it," Iron Patriot said as he took to the skies, leaving Natasha and Clint to drag the unconscious bodies of the Potts to the ambulances that were already approaching the scene.

xxxXXXxxx

"Sir, the Iron Patriot is heading your way to assist you. He should be arriving in less than a minute."

"Iron Patriot? Is Rhodey alright?" Tony asked, making sure not to stare at Pepper as to prevent him from inadvertently judging her with his eyes. Pepper closed her eyes in shame, remembering that it had been she who had injured the military man back at her hotel room when Killian took control over her.

"Mr. Rhodes is still at the hospital. He's out from surgery and is expected to do a full recovery."

"Then, who's riding Iron Patriot?" Tony asked as his unofficial sidekick finally landed a few feet away from them. Pepper eyed the incoming suit before lowering her eyes and staring at her handiwork with Tony. Even now he managed to smile at her, grateful that the situation had not gone as bad as he had expected it to be.

"You like to keep these situations close, Mr. Stark," Iron Patriot said as he stopped in front of them.

"Happy, is that you in there?" Pepper asked, leaning her head to the side as it would help her decipher who was posing as the Iron Patriot in Rhodey's absence.

_ "Sorry, Pepper, that's not me,"_ Happy's voice said from Iron Man's faceplate. _"The outfit was a little too snug for me."_

"Don't you mean you were a little too round for it, Hap?" Tony teased, trying anything to ignore the pain.

_"Shut up, Tony, and get our girl and your ass back here."_

"So," Tony began, "If it's not Rhodey or Happy, then…" Tony was not able to complete his sentence as the Iron Patriot's faceplate lifted, revealing the identity of its carrier.

"Miss Potts, Mr. Stark; it's nice seeing you again."

Pepper's gasp was echoed by Tony, as they stared at each other for an instant and then at the man now crouching next to them. Tony closed his eyes, feeling shocked and happy at the revelation, while Pepper wasted no time in surrounding the newcomer with her arms.

"Oh, Phil! I can't believe it's you!"

Tony chuckled, mumbling that his first name was still_ Agent_ before the exhaustion took over him, sending him into a state of rest he was desperate to have. The last words he heard came from Pepper, begging him to hang on for her.

_I will, Pepper. I'll wait as long as you need me to._

xxxXXXxxx

Tony stared at the side of the road as Pepper took on the role of the driver of one of his convertibles. He had been unable to do much thanks to the cast still present on his left arm, and the fact that Pepper had threatened to break the other one if he did not take it slow.

As his mind drifted with the relaxing views of the PCH, he thought about the events of the last six months, and how, in the end, it truly had sorted itself out for the best.

Rhodey had just been released from the hospital a month ago, and was now slowly returning to full duty with the Air Force again. Hammer had been found at the end of a rope in his jail cell, not being able to take the toll of his quick defeat. Killian was being kept under tight security at a S.H.I.E.L.D. base while Fury and his minions –including the recovered Agent Coulson, studied the Extremis virus to its last piece of code.

It had been thanks to their meddling that Joanne, Greg and Jack had been able to be freed from the virus's grip. Unfortunately for Pepper, the time to cure her had already passed, leaving her to live with the virus for the rest of her life. It had been a shocking revelation to her, knowing she would never be normal ever again, but the knowledge of what she could do and how the new strand of Extremis worked made it easier on her to accept her fate.

A month after their "fight" with Killian and Hammer, Pepper and Tony had gotten full custody of their kids, courtesy of Agent Coulson's networking. This weekend, however, the children and their canine friend were being watched by their grandparents as their parents drove to the newly reconstructed house in Malibu to make sure it was ready for their little family to move in.

The media's efforts to make things right for Tony and Pepper after the fiasco of the fake video had boosted the company's stock, and thus an agreeable renegotiation had taken place, successfully allowing for Tony to include the family clause addendum to their contracts. Tony could now rest easier at night, knowing that if anything were to happen to him, Pepper and the kids would not be left in the streets.

Finally, Pepper had reprised her role as CEO of SI, and he had reprised his role as the kept man he felt he was since he was not able to return to his tinkering until the cast came off.

"We're here, Tony," Pepper said as she stopped the car in front of the home, pulling Tony away from his daydreaming. She removed the lock from the doors and exited the vehicle with excitement. Tony followed her lead, walking around her and grabbing her hand in his and guiding her inside the house.

"I'm sorry I can't carry you through the threshold, Pep. But, we can do that later, right?"

Pepper giggled at his silly concern, leaning toward him and placing a kiss on his cheek. They then turned to face the view of their living room only to find a guest had already made himself comfortable on their new couch.

"Seriously, Nick? The housewarming party is not until next weekend. Aren't you a little too early? And when are you gonna stop breaking and entering here, huh?"

Nick scoffed as he stood up from the couch, walking toward the couple. "Don't flatter yourself, Mr. Stark. I'm not here to talk to you."

"Really? Then there's the door," Tony said as he pointed at it with his chin. "Wide enough for you?"

"Tony," Pepper mumbled to him as she smiled at Nick, knowing damn well that if it had not been for his intervention, she would have surely ripped Tony to pieces while under Killian's influence.

"I'm sorry, Director Fury. You're welcome to stay."

"Thank you, Ms. Potts."

"Whoa! Whoa! _WHOA_, Eye Patch Fury –get your facts _straight_. She's no longer Ms. Potts, remember? You were there, right? Even though, you know, I _didn't_ invite _you."_

Nick rolled his eye, wondering to himself where he drew the patience from to put up with the man.

"It's alright, don't listen to Tony," Pepper said, shaking her head at the billionaire, not understanding why Tony always had the need to piss off those who lent him a hand when he needed it.

"No, it's alright; my mistake," Fury conceded. "I wouldn't want to get on_ your_ bad side, Mrs. Stark."

Pepper smiled, still not used to her new last name even though she'd had it for nearly three months. "You wouldn't, Director Fury. I still don't know how to thank you for helping us."

Nick eyed Tony up and down for a second, as if daring him to stop his response. "I've actually thought of something you can help us with, Pepper."

"Her first name is Mrs. Stark," Tony said, pulling Pepper closer to him and tightening the grip on her hand. Nick disregarded Tony's actions, redirecting his attention to the curious redhead.

"_Mrs. Stark_, I'd like to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative."

* * *

**A/N:** Holy crap! I bet you didn't know this was ending already, uh? Well, I still have an epilogue I'll write soon to wrap up this story and set the stage for the sequel, which will be titled _Man in a Can_ –borrowing from Tony's line. I really need to concentrate on some work stuff, so it might be a few weeks until you see the first chapter of the sequel. I hope, however, to see all of you there, following the next phase of our favorite couple in this story. Thank you very much for your support; and I look forward to meeting with you again soon.

By the way, for those of you who were left scratching your heads, wondering why the fight was so brief and anticlimactic, keep in mind that this was the point. Tony has and is now willing to accept help, and Killian and Hammer are both old news at this point…stick around for the Epilogue to find out what I mean.


	14. Epilogue

**Epilogue  
**

"Master, I bring with me an update," the humble servant said as he bowed his head. His master slightly lowered his own head, inviting the man to relay his tale.

"As you requested, Justin Hammer has been dealt with; the officials deemed his death a suicide."

The servant waited for an acknowledgment from his master, but when none was perceived, he continued his report.

"The other man, the one that almost destroyed your loyal servants, was seen using a cast. No life-threatening injuries were received by him, however, and he has relocated to his old home. The assembly of vigilantes is regrouping – we believe the man who used your image has given them valuable information in exchange for his life."

"And what about The Source?" the Master asked, staring into something only he could perceive.

"The Source has joined the vigilantes."

"I see."

The servant nodded to his master, thanking him for his attention as he stood up. He knew he had been dismissed, but the curiosity within him was more powerful than his hardwired customs.

"Master, if…if I may…when will we know if the technology works?"

The Master stood up from his chair, walking closer to the now frightened servant, the Ten Rings of Power glowing with every word the Master spoke. "They have been working already, so far. Why do you think the winter weather in the city of New York was so odd?"

The servant furrowed his eyebrows realizing that while he had been on duty gathering information from his targets, the weather in the city had not been as treacherous as it was known to be. This had been a blessing as it had made his snooping around much easier.

"What is our next step, Master?"

"We bring The Source to us. Without her, my reach is limited."

"What about her protector? He won't let her out of his sight."

"Protector?" The Master – _The Mandarin_, scoffed. "He's just a man in a can."

* * *

**A/N:** Intrigued? Follow me/Favorite me to find out when the sequel comes out! Don't forget to review! Until then, best wishes to all of you :) See ya 'round!


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